Z 
< 


POPULAR    HISTORY 


OP  THE 


UNITED    STATES 


AMERICA: 


FROM  THE  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   AMERICAN   CONTINENT 
TO   THE   PRESENT   TIME. 


BY   MARY   HOWITT. 

toitl)  Numerous  (Kngramugs. 

VOL.  I. 


NEW    YORK: 
HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

FRANKLIN     SQUARE. 
I860- 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  by 

HARPER  &  BROTHERS, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District 
of  New  York. 


14506 


CONTENTS    TO    VOL.    I. 


CHAPTER  I. 
DISCOVERIES — TO  THE  YEAR  1521. 

America  discovered  by  the  Vikings. — Runic  pillars  of  Rask  and  Finn 
Magnusen. — Christopher  Columbus :  his  various  voyages. — John  and  Sebastian 
Cabot. — The  Portuguese. — Vasco  de  Gama  and  Cortereal. — John  Verazzani 
despatched  by  Francis  I.  reaches  Nova  Scotia. — Jacques  Cartier's  voyages. — 
Ponce  de  Leon  discovers  Florida. — Fernandez  de  Cordova  discovers  Yucatan. — 
Conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez 1-12 


CHAPTER  II. 
DISCOVERIES — (continued). 

Pamphilo  de  Narvaez'  expedition  to  Florida. — Ferdinand  de  Soto  lands 
with  600  men. — Their  adventures  in  search  of  gold. — Sufferings  and  death  of 
de  Soto. — The  Mississippi  discovered. — Florida  colonised  by  Huguenots. — The 
French  settlement  destroyed  by  Pedro  Melendez. — English  discovery. — 
Willoughby  and  Richard  Chancellor. — Frobisher. — Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert.— Sir 
Walter  Raleigh.  — The  colony  of  Virginia  and  its  fortunes.  —  Sir  Francis 
Drake  ...  ...  13-28 


CHAPTER  III. 

DISCOVERIES  (continued). 

Second  attempt  of  Raleigh  to  colonise  Virginia. — Rnpture  with  the  natives. 
— Delay  in  the  supply  of  necessaries  to  the  colonists. — Misfortunes  of  Raleigh. — 
His  efforts  for  the  colony. — Bartholomew  Gosnold  lands  at  Cape  Cod. — Penob- 
scot  river  discovered.  —  The  voyages  of  the  French.— Nova  Scotia,  New 
Brunswick,  Acadia.— Quebec  founded  in  1608.— Samuel  Champlain.— Henry 
Hudson's  voyages  to  the  north. — He  endeavours  to  discover  a  passage  to  the 
Pacific.— His  sufferings  and  death  ......  29-38 


CHAPTER  IV. 

COLONISATION  OF  VIRGINIA. 

New  motives  for  colonisation  in  the  seventeenth  century.— England  steps 
into  the  field  of  enterprise. — The  Plymouth  and  London  Companies  founded.— 
Vain  effort  of  the  Plymouth  Company. — The  London  Company  despatches  a 
squadron,  which  lands  in  Chesapeake  Bay.— The  settlement  of  Jamestown 


IV  CONTENTS. 

formed.— Wingfield  and  Smith.— Extraordinary  adventures  of  Smith.— His 
life  saved  by  the  Indian  girl,  Pocahontas. — Gold  mania  in  the  colony. — Dis- 
satisfaction of  the  London  Company. — Lord  de  la  Ware  appointed  governor. — 
Famine  in  the  colony. — New  settlements  and  new  charter. — Pocahontas  visits 
England. — Land  law  in  Virginia. — Written  constitution.— Unexpected  lising 
among  the  Indians. — New  laws. — Governors  of  Virginia. — Democratic  spirit. 
—Tobacco 39-75 


CHAPTER  V. 
COLONISATION  OF  MARYLAND. 

The  London  Company's  second  charter. — Clayborne. — Sir  George  Calvert, 
afterwards  Lord  Baltimore,  obtains  from  James  I.  a  grant  0f  land,  which  is 
called  Maryland. — Cecil  Calvert  sends  Leonard  Calvert  to  Maryland  with 
emigrants.— Clayborne's  attempt  to  discourage  the  colonists. — His  turbulence. 
— Incursions  of  the  Indians. — Puritanism. — Toleration  of  the  government. — 
Political  troubles. — The  dissensions  compromised  ....  76-87 


CHAPTER  VI. 
COLONISATION  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

Smith's  Voyage  to  Massachusetts  Bay. — New  England. — Hunt  kidnaps  the 
Indians.— King  James  grants  the  "  great  patent." — Puritanism  in  England. — 
The  Pilgrim  Fathers.  —  Commencement  of  English  Nonconformity. — Policy  of 
James  I.  towards  the  Church  of  England.  -Oppression,  and  resistance  of  the 
bigotry  of  James. — Struggle  between  established  authority  and  the  spirit  of 
liberty 88-97 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS. 

Many  Puritans  find  refuge  in  Holland.— The  congregation  at  Leyden 
determine  to  remove  to  America. — They  obtain  a  patent  from  the  Virginia 
Company.— '-The  Mayflower  and  the  Speedwell  leave  Leyden. — The  Mayflower 
sails  from  Plymouth  alone. — The  emigrants  land  at  Cape  Cod. — Their  suifer- 
ings. — The  settlement  of  New  Plymouth  founded. — Hardship  and  labour. — 
Friendly  relations  established  with  the  Indians. — The  "unruly  colony"  at 
Weymouth.— Gradual  rise  of  New  Plymouth  .  .  .  98-111 


CHAPTER  V1IL 

MASSACHUSETTS-BAY  COLONY. 

Attempts  to  colonise  the  coast. — Portsmouth  founded. — Richard  Vines' 
expedition. — First  settlement  of  Maine  and  Nova  Scotia. — New  emigrants. — 
Settlement  founded  in  the  wilderness  of  Salem. — John  Winthrop. — Settlement 
at  Boston. — Fortunes  of  the  colonists. — Bigotry  creeps  in  among  them. — 
Friendly  disposition  of  the  Indian  chiefs. — Commencement  of  trade  with 
Virginia,  and  with  the  Dutch,  on  the  Hudson. — Representative  government 
established  at  Massachusetts.— Arrival  of  Henry  Vane  .  .  112-121 


CONTENTS.  V 

CHAPTER  IX. 
RHODE  ISLAND. — ROGER  WILLIAMS  AND  ANNE  HUTCHINSON. 

Roger  Williams  arrives  at  Massachusetts. — His  liberal  doctrines  procure 
his  expulsion  from  the  colony.— His  residence  among  the  Indians. — His  charac- 
ter.—He  obtains  a  charter,  and  founds  the  province  of  Rhode  Island,  under  the 
title  of  Providence  Plantation. — The  Pequods  and  others  threaten  Massa- 
chusetts.— Williams  negotiates  with  them  for  his  persecutors. — Anne  Hutchinson 
and  her  opinions. — She  is  banished,  and  founds  a  new  settlement  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Providence. — Her  melancholy  death  .  •  .  122-130 


CHAPTER  X. 
SETTLEMENT  OF  CONNECT  CCTJT. 

The  Connecticut  river  discovered. — John  Winthrop  obtains  a  commission 
from  England  to  build  a  fort,  &c.,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut  river. — 
Severity  of  the  first  wi&ter,  and  hardships  endured  by  the  colonists. — -Attempt 
of  the  Dutch  to  take  possession. — Great  emigration  to  the  valley  of  the  Con- 
necticut,— Expedition  against  the  Pequods. — Terrible  massacre  of  the  Pequods, 
who  are  ?nnihilated  as  a  tribe. — Theophilus  Eaton  and  John  Davenport  found 
the  settlement  of  Qumnipiack  or  New  Haven  .  .  .  131-140 


CHAPTER  XL 
THE  NEW  ENGLAND  UNION. 

Complaints  made  against  Massachusetts.— Laud  appointed  commissioner 
orer  the  c<  lonies. — Preparations  for  resistance. — Fearful  religious  persecutions 
in  England. — The  danger  averted  from  the  colonies  by  the  breaking  out  of  the 
great  civil  war. — Union  of  the  states  f  r  mutual  protection. — Fate  of  the  chief 
Miantonomob. —  Roger  Williams  obtains  the  acknowledgment  of  Rhode  Island 
as  a  separate  state.— Fundamental  laws  of  Massachusetts. — Educational  mea- 
sures.—Samuel  Gorton  founds  a  settlement  at  Shawomet. — He  is  summoned  by 
Massachusetts  and  put  in  irons. — He  escapes  to  England. — The  colonists  repu- 
diate the  interference  of  the  home  government.— Cromwell's  good-will  towards 
the  new  Englanders.— The  quakers  persecuted  in  Massachusetts.— Their  obsti- 
nacy.— John  Eliot  among  the  Indians  ....  Iil-160 


CHAPTER  XII. 

NEW  NETHERLANDS  —NEW  SWEDEN. 

Hudson's  visit  to  New  York  Bay. — Indian  traditions  concerning  the  event. — 
Particulars  of  Hudson's  visit. — Dutch  settlements  around  the  Hudson. — 
Cornelius  May.— Friendship  between  the  Dutch  settlers  and  the  New  Plymouth 
colonists. — Charter  obtained  by  the  "  college  of  nineteen." — Swedish  emigra- 
tion.— Settlement  of  Swedes  in  Delaware  Bay. — The  Dutch  governor  Kieft  — 
His  massacre  of  the  Indians. — Their  vengeance.  -A  truce  effected. — John 
Underbill  protector  of  the  New  Netherlands  .  .  .  161-173 


V  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

NEW  YORK.  —  NEW  SWEDEN. 

Peter  Stuyvesant  arrives  as  governor.  —  State  of  the  New  Netherlands.— 
Symptoms  of  weakness.  —  War  between  England  and  Holland.  —  Stuyvesant 
subdues  the  Swedish  settlement.  —  Tolerant  spirit  among  the  Dutch.  —  'Quarrel 
between  governor  Stuyvesant  and  his  people.  —  Sir  Richard  Nichols  takes  pos- 
session of  New  Amsterdam.  —  Surinam  left  to  the  Dutch  in  exchange  for  New 
Netherlands  ........  174-182 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
THE  RESTORATION  AND  ITS  EFFECTS. 

The  Restoration.  —  Execution  of  Hugh  Peters  and  of  Sir  Henry  Vane.  — 
Wballey  and  Goffe,  the  regicides,  fly  to  Boston,  and  are  sheltered  by  the  New 
Englanders.  —  The  younger  Winthrop  obtains  a  charter  for  Connecticut.  —  Hap- 
piness of  the  colony.  —  Life  in  Connecticut.  —  Educational  provisions.  —  Rhode 
Island  obtains  a  charter.—  Quakerism  established  in  Rhode  Island.—  Effect  ol 
the  Restoration  on  the  remaining  States  ....  183-192 


CHAPTER  XV. 
MASSACHUSETTS  UNDER  CHARLES  II. 

Deputation  to  Charles  II.  from  Massachusetts. — The  charter  confirmed  with 
certain  restrictions. — Struggle  between  the  colony  and  the  home  government. — 
Remonstrance  addressed  to  the  king. — Collision  between  the  constables  of 
Massachusetts  and  the  Royal  Commissioners. — Massachusetts  refuses  to  send 
deputies  to  England  — Prosperity  of  the  colony. — Indian  and  white  population 
of  New  England. — Indian  warfare  and  disaster. — The  "  swamp  fight." — 
Destruction  of  the  red  men.— Their  firmness.— Philip  of  Pocanoket.— Results 
of  the  war.— Escape  of  Anne  Brackett  ....  193-207 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  CHARTER  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  ANNULLED. 

The  London  merchants  jealous  of  Massachusetts. — Maine  redeemed  by 
Massachusetts  for  £1200. — New  Hampshire  separated  from  Massachusetts  and 
constituted  a  royal  province. — Cranfield  sent  out  as  governor. — Associations 
formed  to  resist  taxes  imposed  by  him. — Retirement  of  Cranfield. — The  charter 
of  Massachusetts  threatened. — Efforts  made  by  the  colony  to  preserve  it. — Vain 
remonstrances. — The  charter  annulled  ...  *  208-212 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  CAROLINA. 

South  Virginia,— Carolina.— Tract  of  land  granted  by  Charles  I.  to  Sir 
Robert  Heath. —  William  Drummond.  —  Barbadoes  planters  in  Clarendon 
county. — The  settlement  of  Albemarle. — Locke's  grand  model  constitution  and 


CONTENTS.  Vii 

its  provisions. — Its  indifferent  reception  among  the  colonists. — George  Fox 
visits  Carolina. — Dissatisfaction  with  the  English  government. — Navigation 
Laws. — John  Culpepper's  arrest  and  acquittal. — Governor  Sothel's  tyranny. — 
Emigrants  at  Port  Royal. — Carteret  county. — Charleston  founded. — Prosperity 
of  South  Carolina. — Influx  of  emigrants. — Huguenot  fugitives. — The  Menigault 
family. —  Slavery. — The  buccaneers  favoured  in  South  Carolina. — Di>tur- 
bances. — Return  of  Sothel.— The  grand  model  constitution  abrogated  .  213-234 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
VIRGINIA  UNDER  CHARLES  II. 

The  Restoration  disastrous  to  Virginia. —  Sir  William  Berkeley  elected 
governor. — Loyalty  of  the  colony. — Change  in  the  form  of  government. — 
Slavery  in  Virginia. — Tobacco  cultivation. — Picture  of  life  in  Virginia. — The 
Navigation  Act  enforced. — The  English  episcopal  church  becomes  the  state  reli- 
gion.— The  justiciary  government  changed. — Exploring  expedition. — Arbi- 
trary grants  of  land. — Dissatisfaction  in  the  colony. — Incursions  of  the  Indians. — 
Nathaniel  Bacon's  insurrection. — He  obtains  his  commission  as  commander 
against  the  Indians.— Berkeley's  treachery.— Power  of  Bacon.— Sir  William 
Berkeley  at  Jamestown. — His  flight. — Jamestown  taken  and  burnt  by  the  insur- 
gents.—Death  of  Bacon.— Crueltv  of  Berkeley.— His  death. — Culpepper's  admi- 
nistration.—Slave  code.— Spirit  of  the  Virginians  in  1688  .  235-257 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
MARYLAND  UXDER  CHARLES  II. 

Lord  Baltimore's  liberal  policy. — His  toleration  and  justice. — The  Quakers 
and  their  position. — George  Fox. — Adventure  of  John  Jay.— Administration  of 
Thomas  Notley. — Lord  Baltimore  persecuted  in  England  on  account  of  his 
tolerance.— The  liberties  of  Maryland  threatened,  but  preserved  by  the  dethrone- 
ment of  James  II.  .......  258-263 

CHAPTER  XX. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  NEW  JERSEY.— THE  QUAKERS. 

The  land  between  the  Hudson  and  Delaware  made  over  to  Lord  Berkeley 
qpd  Sir  G.  Carteret. — The  Delaware  Indians  in  New  Jersey. — Philip  Carteret 
arrives  in  Newark  Bay. — Disorders  in  the  colony. — Lord  Lovelace's  system  of 
government.— The  Duke  of  York's  tyranny.— The  "  holy  experiment"  of  the 
Quakers. — Creed  of  the  Quakers. — Their  steadfastness  under  oppression  and 
persecution. — The  fundamental  laws  of  New  Jersey  as  established  by  the 
Quakers. — Emigrating  Quaker  companies. — Resignation  of  the  territory  by 
the  Duke  of  York.— The  Quakers  firmly  settled  in  the  New  World  .  264-275 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

Account  of  William  Penn. —  His  reverses  and  constancy. — His  various 
imprisonments. — His  wish  to  provide  for  the  Quakers  an  asylum  in  the  New 
World. — He  purchases  land  of  Charles  II.,  and  founds  Pennsylvania, — The 
constitution  of  the  new  colony.— The  "  holy  experiment."-— The  "  free  society 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

of  traders"  formed.— Sun-ender  of  territory  by  the  Duke  of  York.— The  first 
assembly  convened  at  Chester. — Penu's  celebrated  treaty  with  the  Indians. — 
The  "gospel  tree." — Peace  between  Quakprs  and  Indians. — Philadelphia 
fmnded. — Penn's  visit  t»  Lord  Baltimore. — His  return  to  England  and  sub- 
sequent misfortunes. — His  opinions  on  slavery  .  .  .  276-290 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
NEW  FRANCE. — DISCOVERIES  IN  THE  GREAT  LAKE  REGION. 

The  French  settlers  in  Canada. — Their  dealings  with  the  Indians. — The 
Jesuit  missionaries  and  their  labours. — Brebeuf  and  Daniel  live  among  the 
Indians. — The  villages  of  St.  Louis  and  St.  Ignatius  founded. — Enthusiasm 
awakened  in  France.— Missionary  labours  among  the  Indians. — Charles 
Raymbault  and  Claude  Pijart. — jogues,  his  sufferings  and  heroism. — His 
fate. — Indian  warfare  and  cruelty. — Chaumonot's  labours. — Missionary  enthu- 
siasm.— Mesnard.— Allouez  ......  291-305 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

DISCOVERY  OF  THB  MISSISSIPPI. 

Franciscan  friars  as  missionaries. — Marquette's  design  of  navigating  the 
"  Great  River." — Discouraging  reports  among  the  Indians. — The  expedition 
sets  forth. — Bancroft's  account  of  the  journey. — Indian  village?. — The  river 
Illinois.— Joliet  and  Robert  Cavalier  la  Salle.— Colony  planted  on  Lake 
Michigan. — Hennepin's  travels. — Tonti  and  his  mL-fortunes.^-French  colonising 
expedition. — Erection  of  Fort  St.  Louis. — La  Salle  murdered. — Hostilities  of 
the  Iroquois.— Small  extent  of  the  French  settlements  .  .  306-318 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
THE  COLONIES  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1688. 

Quarrels  in  Carolina  between  dissenters  and  churchmen. — John  Archdale, 
chosen  proprietary,  favours  the  dissenters. — His  successor,  Blake,  sides  with 
the  churchmen. — Unsettled  condition  of  North  Carolina. — Disturbances  in  the 
colony. — Governorship  of  Nicholson  and  Andres. — Independent  spirit  of  the 
Virginians. — Maryland. — Its  condition  and  productions. —  Pennsylvania. — The 
charter  of  privileges. — Constitution  of  New  Jersey. — New  York. — Unpopularity, 
of  James  II. — Governor  Dongan. — Leisler's  insurrection. — His  execution. — 
Benjamin  Fletcher  governor. — Captain  Kidd  the  pirate. — Lord  Cornbury. — 
His  duplicity  and  profligacy. — The  conquest  of  Canada  urged. — Robert  Hunter 
governor  of  New  York — Yale  college  founded  .  .  .  319-343 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  FIRST  INTERCOLONIAL  WAR. — THE  SALEM  WITCHCRAFT. 
Andros  expelled  from  Boston. — Massachusetts  engages  in  war  against  Canada 
and  the  Indian?.-  Sir  William  Phipps's  expedition  against  Nova  Scotia. — In- 
dian warfare. — Prisoners  sold  to  the  French. — New  charter  for  Massachusetts. 
— The  witch  mania. — Mather  and  his  book. — Absurd  and  cruel  persecution  of 
supposed  witches. — Penn's  judgment  in  a  case  of  witchcraft. — Renewed  Indian 
warfare.— Indian  outrages. — Judicial  code  of  Massachusetts  .  344-359 


CONTENTS.  IX 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  LOUISIANA.  —  QUEEN  ANNE'S  WAR. 

Callieres  excites  the  Indians  against  the  British.  —  Lemonie  d'llberville's  ex- 
pedition. —  Arrival  at  Ship  Island.—  The  settlement  of  Detroit.  —  English 
expedition  to  explore  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  —  The  "English  turn."  —  The 
settlement  of  Natchez.  —  The  settlers  of  Biloxi.  —  William  III.  declares  war 
against  France  and  Spain.—  Combats  between  the  settlers  and  the  various 
nations.—  Deerfield  destroyed.  —  Atrocities  of  Indian  warfare.  —  Port  Royal  taken. 
—  Admiral  Walker's  exploits.  —  The  Tuscarora  Indians.  —  Issues  of  paper 
money  —  The  two  Carolines  become  separate  royal  governments.  —  Enactments 
wuh  regard  to  slaves.  —  The  treaty  of  Utrecht.  —  Population  of  the  colonies  in 
1714.—  Piracy  .......  360-379 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

LAW'S  BUBBLE.  —  LOUISIANA  ESTABLISHED.  —  GROWTH  OP  LIBERTY  IN  THE 

STATES. 

State  of  the  American  colonies  at  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover.  — 
The  "Mississippi  scheme."  —  John  Law's  bank.  —  New  Orleans  founded.  — 
Louisiana  established.  —  Destruction  of  the  Natchez  race  of  Indians.  —  War  with 
the  Chicasaws.  —  Breaking  out  of  the  smallpox  in  Boston.  —  Inoculation.  — 
Benjamin  Franklin  and  the  "New  England  covenant."—  British  restrictions  on 
colonial  manufactures.  —  Dispute  on  the  salary  of  the  Governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. —  Liberty  of  the  press  advocated.  —  Acquittal  of  John  Zenger  the 
printer  ........  380-389 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  GEORGIA,  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  STATES. 

Oglethorpe's  benevolent  exertions.— He  obtains  a  charter  for  Georgia.— His 
departure  from  England  in  1732.— The  town  of  Savannah  laid  out.— The 
Moravians  establish  themselves  in  Georgia. — The  town  of  Augusta  founded. — 
Friendly  disposition  of  the  Indians. — Progress  of  the  colony. — John  and  Charles 
Wesley  in  Georgia.— Whitfield  and  his  preaching.— The  Baptists.— False  alarm 
fo  a  negro  rising.— War  between  England  and  Spain.— Oglethorpe's  services 
against  the  Spaniards.— Character  of  Oglethorpe. — The  boundary  of  Maine. — 
The  slave  trade. — Attitude  of  England  with  regard  to  the  slave  trade. — Hospi- 
tality of  the  Virginians. — General  advance  of  the  colonies  390-406 


ILLUSTRATIONS  TO  VOL.  I. 


LANDING  OP  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS        .  .    frontispiece 

PORTRAIT  OF  CHRISTOPHER  COLUMBUS    .                            .  to  face  2 

POCAHONTAS    INTERCEDING   FOR  JOHN    SMITH     .  47 

FIRST  MEETING  OF  THE  ASSEMBLY  IN  VIRGINIA     .         .  60 

ROGER  WILLIAMS'  DEPARTURE  FROM  SALEM  .         .  "  124 

JOHN  ELIOT  PREACHING  TO  THE  INDIANS         .         .  "  159 

BAXTER  PRESENTING  THE  CHARTER  OF  RHODE  ISLAND    .  "  191 
EJECTMENT  OF   THE    SHERIFF   BY  THE  PEOPLE  OF  NEW 

HAMPSHIRE "  210 

BACON  ADDRESSING  THE  COUNCIL            .          .          .  "  245 

RECEPTION  OF  PENN      .          .          .         .          .          .  "  282 

PENN  AND  THE  INDIANS "  284 

PENN'S  DEPARTURE "  288 

WHITFIELD  PREACHING  "  396 


A   POPULAK 
HISTOEY  OF    THE    UNITED    STATES, 


CHAPTER    I. 

DISCOVERIES. 

THE  mighty  hemisphere  of  the  West  lay  for  countless  ages  shrouded 
from  the  knowledge  of  the  rest  of  the  "world,  as  by  the  darkness  of 
night,  waiting  for  the  appointed  time  of  its  revelation.  That  appoin- 
ted time  was  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  for  although  upwards 
of  four  hundred  years  earlier,  after  the  reign  of  Alfred  of  England, 
and  Charlemagne  in  France,  America  was  discovered  by  some  of  those 
adventurous  Scandinavian  -Vikings — the  true  ancestors  of  the  so- 
called  Anglo-Saxons,  who,  in  their  stout-built  little  ships,  traversed 
all  seas — still  the  knowledge  of  this  discovery  produced  so  little  effect 
on  the  rest  of  the  world,  that  afterwards,  when  America  was  re- 
discovered, the  history  of  the  Scandinavian  colonisers  was  regarded 
as  mythical.  The  antiquarian  researches,  however,  of  Rafn  and 
others,  leave  no  doubt  of  the  fact.  These  bold  adventurers,  at  home 
on  the  most  perilous  seas,  having  colonised  Iceland,  Greenland,  and 
afterwards  Newfoundland  or  Nova  Scotia,  came  at  length,  in  the 
year  1000,  to  the  coast  of  America,  where  a  colony  was  formed  under 
the  name  of  Vinland  hin  Goda,  or  Vineland  the  Good — so  called  from 
the  abundance  of  wild  grapes  which  grew  there,  and  because  the 
mildness  of  the  climate  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil  delighted  the 
discoverers,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  the  savage  sterility  and 
severe  cold  of  Greenland  and  Iceland,  and  even  of  their  native  north. 

The  tract  of  country  first  explored  by  these  earliest  European 
discoverers  is  supposed  to  extend  down  the  coast  from  about  where 

YOL.  I.  1 


2  HISTORY    OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Boston  is  now  situated  to  New  York.  According  also  to  the  anti- 
quarians, Rask  and  Finn  Magmisen,  boundary  pillars  were  discovered 
by  them,  in  the  year  1824,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Baffin's  Bay,  exhi- 
biting Runic  inscriptions,  and  the  date  1135.  The  generally  unci- 
vilised state  of  the  rest  of  Europe  prevented  these  early  Scandinavian 
discoveries  from  producing  any  permanent  or  important  effect.  The 
time  when  this  great  discovery  of  a  second  world  could  be  availing 
was  not  yet  come.  The  precursors  of  knowledge  had  yet  to  be  born  j 
society  lay  under  a  night  of  barbarous  ignorance,  and  glimpses  of 
light,  coming  from  whatever  quarter  they  might,  were  lost  in  the 
density  of  its  shadow. 

The  important  thirteenth  century  arrived:    Roger  Bacon,  Duns 
Scotus,  Albertus  Magnus,  and  Vicentius  of  Beauvais,  lived.   A  breath 
of  true  life  awakened  the  general  mind,  and  geographical,  as  well  as 
other  knowledge  began  to  be  studied.     In  the  meantime,  Iceland, 
which  must  be  regarded  as  the  mother  of  colonisation,  had  lost  her 
noble  independent  spirit  with  her  republican  form  of  government, 
and  become   a  fief  of  the  crown  of  Norway.     In  consequence,  how- 
ever, of  her  remote  position,  as  well  as  her  high  reputation  for  learning, 
she  was  made  the  depository  of  the  most  ancient  records  of  Europe, 
which  was  then  agitated  by  internal    convulsions,  and  here  they 
were  carefully  preserved  for  ages.     In  this  remote  Ultima  Thule  lay 
sealed  up,  as  it  were,  the  keys  of  a  mighty  knowledge,  which  would 
unlock  a  second  world.      Here,  accordingly,  in  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1477,  came  Christopher  Columbus,  "  the  sea,"  says  he,  "  not 
being  at  that  time  covered  with  ice,  and  being  resorted  to  by  traders 
from   Bristol."      This  is  singular.     Some  historians  doubt  whether 
Columbus  heard  any  tidings  here  of  the  early  discovery  and  colo- 
nisation of  America.      No  doubt  he  did ;  no  doubt,  in  his  conversa- 
tions with  Bishop  Skalholt  and  other  learned  men,  he  would  hear 
the  extraordinary  fact  of  a  great  country  having  been  discovered 
by  their  ancestors  beyond  the  Western  Ocean.     They  had  found  land 
where  he  had  believed  it  to  exist,  whether  a  part  of  Asia  or  not  was 
of  no  consequence,  and  this  information  would  not  be  lost  on  a  mind 
like  his.      No  doubt,  also,  hither  came  the  Cabots,  merchants  of 
Bristol,  who,  in  their  process  of  discovery,  sailed  northward,  as  if 
following  the  guidance  of  Icelandic  tradition,  and  arrived  on  the 


CHRISTOPHER   COLUMBUS. 


(H92.)  COLUMBUS  AND    HIS   DISCOVERIES.  3 

dreary  coasts  of  Labrador,  before  Columbus  discovered  the  mainland 
of  America. 

Columbus  having-,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  sailed,  as  we  have  said, 
to  Iceland,  "  to  see  if  it  were  inhabited,"  returned  to  Spain  resolved 
to  navigate  the  groat  Western  Sea,  and  discover  the  land  which  lay 
beyond.  Ke  was  one  of  the  elect  of  Providence,  men  of  the  time  and 
the  hour,  whose  work  is  appointed  them  to  do,  and  spite  of  impe- 
diment, discouragement,  and  adversity,  who  must  succeed  in  doing 
it.  The  history  of  his  eventful  life  is  well  known ;  with  inflexible 
resolution  and  deep  religious  ardour,  he  pursued  his  object,  and 
finally  won  the  ear  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain.  On 
August  3rd,  1492,  he  set  sail  as  Admiral  of  the  Seas  and  Lands 
which  he  expected  to  discover,  and  on  October  11,  after  a  tedious 
voyage  and  long  anxiety,  stepped  on  shore  of  one  of  the  Bahama 
Islands  with  tears  of  joy  and  fervent  thanksgiving;  and  after  kissing 
the  soil  of  the  New  World,  he  planted  here  the  cross,  in  token  of 
Christian  possession. 

Gold  dust  and  Japan,  or  Cipango,  as  it  was  called,  were  the  objects 
of  search,  and  Columbus,  after  twelve  days,  again  set  sail  in  the 
hope  of  finding  them.  He  found  several  other  of  the  West  India 
Islands,  and  finally  the  beautiful  Cuba,  the  most  beautiful  island  in 
the  world.  He  believed  that  now  indeed  he  had  found  the  long- 
sought-for  Cipango ;  and  San  Domingo,  which  he  next  discovered,  he 
imagined  to  be  the  ancient  Ophir,  the  source  of  all  the  riches  of 
Solomon. 

Columbus's  discoveries  were  confined  principally  to  the  West  India 
Islands ;  nor  was  it  till  his  third  voyage  that  he  touched  the  main- 
land, near  the  mouth  of  the  river  Oronoco. 

The  Cabots,  as  we  have  seen,  enterprising  merchants  of  Bristol, 
which  was  at  that  time  the  second  port  in  England,  and  accus- 
tomed to  the  navigation  of  the  northern  seas,  had  discovered,  in 
1496,  the  coast  of  Labrador — a  country  which  could  neither  be 
mistaken  for  Cipango  nor  for  Ophir — a  savage  arctic  region,  abound- 
ding  in  white  bears  and  deer  of  a  gigantic  size,  and  inhabited  by 
men  clad  in  skins  and  armed  with  bows  and  clubs. 

About  two  years  afterwards,  Sebastian  Cabot,  the  son,  again 
sailed  for  Labrador,  by  way  of  Iceland,  and  thence  proceeding  south- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ward  along  the  shores  of  the  new  country  advanced  into  a  more 
hospitable  climate,  until  want  of  provisions  compelled  him  to  return. 
On  a  subsequent  voyage,  steering-  still  to  nlsKJayourite  north,  in 
search  of  a  north-west  passage,  he  entered  HudsonVIJay,  but  was 
now  compelled  to  return  in  consequence  of  insubordination,  among  his 
crews.  In  1526,  having  gone  to  Spain,  he  was  nominated  by  Charles 
V.  as  pilot-major  of  the  kingdom,  and  in  the  April  of  this  year,  pro- 
ceeding across  the  Atlantic,  explored  the  river  La  Plata  and  some 
of  its  tributaries,  erecting  forts,  and  endeavouring,  but  unsuccessfully, 
to  plant  colonies. 

"  The  career  of  Sebastian  Cabot,"  says  Bancroft,  "  was  in  the  issue 
as  honourable  as  the  beginning  was  glorious.  He  conciliated 
universal  esteem  by  the  placid  mildness  of  his  character.  Unlike 
the  stern  enthusiasm  of  Columbus,  he  was  distinguished  for  serenity 
and  contentment.  For  sixty  years  he  was  renowned  for  his  achieve- 
ments and  skill."  It  is,  however,  greatly  to  be  regretted  that,  of  all 
his  voyages  and  discoveries,  no  detailed  account  has  been  preserved. 
In  1548  he  was  pensioned  by  Edward  VI.  as  "  The  Great  Seaman," 
and  through  his  advice  and  influence  it  was  that  an  expedition  to 
the  North  of  Europe  was  undertaken,  which  opened  to  England  the 
important  trade  with  Russia.  He  lived  to  extreme  old  age,  but 
the  place  of  his  death  and  burial  is  unknown. 

The  fame  of  Cabot  rests  less  on  any  discovery  of  summer  lands, 
affluent  in  natural  beauty  and  precious  commodities,  than  on  his 
having  made  known  rich  fisheries,  the  wealth  and  value  of  which 
remain  to  the  present  day.  The  immense  shoals  of  cod  in  the 
shallows  of  those  new  seas  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  other 
voyagers,  and  within  seven  years  of  Cabot's  discovery,  the  hardy 
fishermen  of  Brittany  and  Normandy  frequented  the  abundant 
fisheries  of  Newfoundland;  Cape  Breton  remaining  as  a  memo- 
rial of  them  to  this  day.  This  fishery,  on  the  coast  and  bank  of 
Newfoundland,  formed  the  first  link  between  Europe  and  North 
America. 

The  Portuguese,  excited  by  the  success  of  England  and  Spain, 
entered  eagerly  into  competition  with  them,  Emanuel,  kin^  of 
Portugal,  animated  also  by  the  great  success  of  his  expedition  under 
Vasco  de  Goma,  who,  having  for  the  first  time  doubled  the  Cape 


(1520.)       CASPAR  COKTEREAL — JOHX  VERRAZZANI.  5 

of  Good  Hope,  had  reached  India,  thus  opening  to  Europe  all  the 
vast  treasures  of  the  Indian  Ocean,  now  sent  out  Gaspar  Cortereal 
with  two  vessels,  to  follow  in  the  course  of  the  Cabots,  and  explore 
the  north-western  seas.  Accordingly,  reaching  the  shores  of  North 
America,  he  coasted  for  about  seven  hundred  miles,  admiring  as  he 
went  along  the  beauty  and  fertility  of  the  country,  and  the  grandeur 
of  its  forests,  the  pines  of  which  appeared  to  him  admirably  suited 
for  the  masts  and  yards  of  shipping.  The  commerce,  however,  which 
occupied  these  Portuguese  was  of  a  much  less  innocent  kind  than 
that  of  timber,  or  than  the  cod-fishing  of  the  French ;  Cortereal 
freighted  his  vessels  with  a  number  of  inoffensive  natives,  whom 
he  sold  for  slaves,  intending  to  return  for  more.  But  he  never 
returned ;  he  lost  his  life,  it  is  said,  in  a  contest  with  the  natives, 
whom  he  was  endeavouring  to  kidnap. 

The  successful  trade  which  the  bold  fishermen  of  France  carried 
on,  and  some  of  the  natives  whom  they  had  taken  into  their  own 
country,  turned  the  attention  of  Francis  I.  to  the  subject  of  discovery. 
He  fitted  out  a  fleet  under  the  command  of  John  Verrazzani,  a 
Florentine,  commissioned  to  explore  for  the  French  monarch  these 
new  realms  of  wonder  and  hope.  Verrazzani  sailed  by  way  of 
Madeira,  and  after  a  most  stormy  voyage,  had  the  satisfaction  of 
discovering  land  in  a  latitude  which  was  unknown  to  any  Euro- 
pean navigator.  Sailing  for  a  long  time  in  search  of  harbourage, 
he  at  length  cast  anchor  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina.  The 
natives  had  as  yet  seen  no  white  man ;  they  were  of  a  gentle  and 
peaceful  character,  dressed  in  skins,  and  ornamented  with  garlands 
of  feathers.  Coasting  northward,  he  relates,  in  his  letter  to  Francis 
I.,  that  nothing  could  equal  the  beauty  of  the  country ;  the  climate 
was  soft  and  balmy,  the  groves  full  of  beautiful  trees  and  flowers 
which  diffused  a  delicious  odour.  The  red  colour  of  the  earth,  and 
the  fragrance  of  the  groves,  suggested  at  once  the  idea  of  gold  dust 
and  the  spices  of  the  East.  Still  advancing  northward,  they 
reached  Nova  Scotia,  where  natives  of  another  character  met  them. 

From  this  point  he  returned  homeward  ;  his  narrative  of  this 
coasting  voyage  being  the  earliest  record  of  that  part  of  the  new 
world  now  extant.  Of  Verrazzani's  further  discoveries  nothing  is 


6  HISTORY  OF  ^HE  UNITED  STATES. 


known,  although  it  is  said  that  he  visited  the  coast  of  America  three 
times.  He  is  believed  to  have  perished  at  sea, 

Ten  years  afterwards,  the  Admiral  Chahot,  whose  duties  brought 
him  into  connexion  with  the  Newfoundland  fishermen,  became 
interested  in  the  subject  of  discovery.  Jaques  Cartier,  a  mariner 
of  St.  Malo,  was  despatched  with  two  ships  on  the  commission  to 
explore  those  northern  coasts  of  the  new  world  already  so  familiar 
to  the  fishermen.  Cartier  made  a  wonderfully  speedy  voyage.  In 
twenty  days  from  leaving  St.  Malo,  he  was  on  the  coast  of  New- 
foundland, and  after  partly  circumnavigating  the  island,  he  planted 
a  cross  bearing  the  arms  of  France,  in  token  of  having  taken  posses- 
sion for  that  country. 

Sailing  within  the  magnificent  bay  on  its  west,  he  reached  the 
estuary  of  a  vast  river,  which  he  ascended,  until  he  could  see  land  on 
both  sides;  further  he  was  unable  to  advance,  being  unprepared 
to  winter  there.  He  turned  his  face  homeward,  therefore,  and  in 
thirty  days  reached  St.  Malo,  carrying  two  natives  with  him. 

The  success  of  this  voyage  caused  a  second  expedition  to  be  soon 
fitted  out.  Three  well-furnished  vessels  were  provided  by  govern- 
ment, and  several  of  the  young  nobility  joined  in  the  enterprise. 
Solemn  preparations  were  made  for  departure,  the  ships'  companies 
assembled  in  the  cathedral  to  receive  absolution  and  the  blessing  of 
the  bishop  ;  and  thus  they  set  sail,  full  of  hope  and  schemes  for  the 
colonising  of  that  splendid  territory  which  was  to  be  called  New 
France.  This  voyage,  however,  unlike  the  former,  was  stormy, 
and  passing  the  west  of  Newfoundland  on  the  day  of  St.  Lawrence, 
they  gave  the  name  of  that  saint  to  the  noble  bay  which  expanded 
before  them,  and  which  name  not  alone  the  gulf,  but  the  magnificent 
river  which  falls  into  it,  bear  to  this  day.  Cartier  again  sailed  up 
the  river,  but  in  a  boat,  and  as  far  as  Hochelaga,  where,  ascending 
a  hill,  he  was  struck  by  the  magnificent  view  of  woods,  mountain, 
and  river,  which  lay  behind  him.  Anticipating  this  as  the  site  of  the 
future  metropolis  of  a  splendid  empire,  he  called  the  hill  Mont-Real, 
and  "  time,"  says  the  historian,  "  which  has  transferred  the  name  to 
the  island,  is  realising  his  visions."  He  and  his  companions  spent 
the  winter  in  these  seas,  and  in  the  spring  departed,  having  basely 


(1520.)        VOYAGES  OP  THE  FKENCH  TO  CANADA.  7 

kidnapped  an  Indian  chief  who  had  treated  them  with  the  utmost 
kindness. 

The  report  which  the  adventurers  carried  home  of  the  severity  of 
the  climate  abated  the  ardour  of  colonisation  for  a  few  years.  At 
length,  in  an  interval  of  peace,  the  remembrance  of  that  magnificent 
river,  which  exceeded  in  grandeur  any  river  of  Europe,  awoke 
anew  the  spirit  of  adventure,  and  Francis  de  la  Roque,  lord  of 
Robertval  in  Picardy,  was  appointed  viceroy  of  the  unknown  regions 
of  Norimbega,  that  is  to  say,  all  the  vast  territories  around  the  gulf 
and  river  of  St.  Lawrence,  with  all  its  islands ;  and  Cartier,  on 
account  of  his  knowledge  and  experience,  was  associated  in  the  enter- 
prise, as  captain-general  and  chief  pilot.  Cartier  was  also  com- 
missioned to  take  with  him  artisans  of  all  kinds,  that  useful  colonies 
might  be  established.  "We  must  suppose  that  but  little  public  enthu- 
siasm existed  on  the  subject ;  for  Cartier  had  to  ransack  the  jails  to 
make  up  his  complement  of  men.  This  wOjS  an  ill-starred  enterprise 
altogether;  the  two  leaders  did  not  even  act  in  concert.  Cartier 
set  sail  long  before  his  superior,  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence,  built  a 
fort  near  the  present  site  of  Quebec,  where  he  passed  the  winter  in 
hostility  with  the  natives,  and  in  the  spring  set  sail  homeward,  meet- 
ing Robertval  on  his  way  out,  off  Newfoundland.  Robertval,  though 
he  remained  a  twelvemonth  in  his  new  territory  of  Norimbega, 
effected  very  little,  and  so  returned  home. 

For  the  next  fifty  years  nothing  was  done  by  France,  which 
was  absorbed  by  her  own  internal  conflicts — feudalism  against 
monarchical  power,  Calvinism  against  Catholicism.  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  the  value  and  importance  of  the  northern  fisheries 
increased,  and  in  1578  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  French 
ships  were  employed  in  the  Newfoundland  trade. 

While  the  French  were  thus  vainly  endeavouring  to  colonise  the 
regions  of  Acadia  and  Canada  lying  around  the  bay  and  along  the 
river  of  St.  Lawrence,  the  Spaniards  were  occupied  in  the  south.  The 
brilliant  discoveries  of  Spain  had  kindled  the  most  extraordinary 
enthusiasm  throughout  the  nation  for  adventure  beyond  the  seas. 
Nothing  was  too  extravagant  for  their  imaginations  to  conceive  of 
the  new  world,  where  it  was  believed  "  that  the  natives  ignorantly 


8  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

wore  the  most  precious  ornaments,  and  the  sands  of  every  river 
sparkled  with  gold."  Spaniards,  high  and  low,  young  and  old,  rich 
and  poor,  were  all  ready  to  rush  to  the  conquest  and  the  spoil. 
Among  others,  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  an  aged  veteran  in  the  wars 
of  Granada,  a  companion  of  Columbus  in  his  second  voyage,  and  some 
time  governor  of  Porto  Rico,  fitted  out  three  ships  at  his  own 
expense,  and  resolved  to  go  forth  to  seek  his  fortune,  and  more 
especially  to  seek  for  that  which  he  had  been  told  existed  in  those 
paradisiacal  regions  of  the  sun  and  the  palm — a  fountain  whose 
waters  possessed  the  extraordinary  virtues  of  restoring  or  perpetuating 
youth.  In  search  of  this  poetical  fountain,  Ponce  de  Leon  set  sail 
with  his  three  ships,  in  March  1512.  On  Easter  Sunday,  which 
the  Spaniards  call  Pascua  Florida,  the  aged  adventurer  discovered 
a  glorious  land,  covered  with  woods,  which  were  brilliant  with 
flowers.  Spite  of  the  marvellous  beauty  of  the  country,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Florida^  it  was  some  time  before  he  was  able  to  land, 
in  consequence  of  stormy  weather.  At  length  a  landing  was  effected, 
and  formal  possession  taken  of  the  country ;  but  though  he  remained 
exploring  the  coast  for  several  weeks,  the  fountain  of  youth  was 
nowhere  to  be  found,  the  natives  were  hostile,  and  Ponce  de  Leon 
returned  to  Porto  Rico  still  an  old  man.  A  new  and  splendid 
region  had,  however,  been  discovered,  and  thither  Ponce  de  Leon 
returned  a  few  years  afterwards,  intending  to  select  a  site  for  a 
colony,  but  in  a  contest  with  the  natives  was  mortally  wounded. 

Ponce  de  Leon's  discovery  had  opened  a  new  path  for  Spanish 
commerce  through  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  and  in  1516  Diego  Mimelo, 
a  bold  sea  captain,  trafficking  with  the  natives,  brought  away  gold 
which  he  had  obtained  in  exchange  for  toys,  and  thus  gave  a  yet 
more  brilliant  colouring  to  the  reports  current  regarding  the  wealth 
of  this  new  region. 

In  1517,  Francisco  Fernandez  de  Cordova  discovered  the  province 
of  Yucatan  and  the  Bay  of  Campeachy,  but  soon  afterwards,  like 
Ponce  de  Leon,  was  mortally  wounded  by  the  natives.  The  pilot  of 
Fernandez  in  the  following  year  conducted  another  squadron  to  the 
same  shores,  under  the  command  of  Grijalva.  The  amount  of  gold 
which  was  here  collected,  and  the  costly  presents  of  the  unsuspecting 


(1520.)  LUCAS   DE   AYLLON — FRANCISCO   DE    CORDOVA — GRIJALVA.  9 

natives  together  with  the  rumours  of  the  magnificent  empire  of 
Montezuma,  excited  the  general  imagination,  and  led  to  the  enter- 
prise of  Cortes. 

While  events  were  thus  opening  the  way  for  the  conquest  of 
Mexico,  seven  wealthy  men  of  St.  Domingo,  at  the  head  of  whom 
was  Lucas  Vasquez  de  Ayllon,  despatched  two  vessels  as  slavers  to 
seek  for  labourers  in  their  mines  and  plantations.  These  ships  were 
driven  northward  from  the  Bahamas  hy  adverse  winds  upon  the 
coast  of  Carolina,  which  they  called  Chicora ;  they  anchored  at  the 
Camhahee  river,  to  which  they  gave  the  name  of  Jordan.  The 
natives  received  them  with  great  kindness,  being  new  to  the  sight 
of  Europeans,  and  visited  their  ships  in  crowds,  both  with  curiosity 
and  good  faith,  but  when  they  were  all  below,  the  hatches  were 
suddenly  closed,  and  the  perfidious  Spaniards  sailed  away.  One 
of  these  ships  was  lost,  the  captives  in  the  other  refused  food,  and  died 
of  starvation  and  distress  of  mind. 

Again  de  Ayllon  sailed  with  three  ships  to  the  newly-discovered 
Chicora,  of  which  he  was  appointed  governor,  intending  now  to 
take  formal  possession.  But  the  largest  of  his  ships  was  stranded 
and  lost  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Cambahee,  and  he  himself,  though 
received  with  apparent  kindness  by  the  natives,  narrowly  escaped 
with  his  life,  many  of  his  men  having  been  killed,  the  friendly  aspect 
being  merely  a  feint  on  the  part  of  the  incensed  natives  to  get  them 
more  completely  into  their  power.  This  unsuccessful  attempt  preyed 
so  severely  upon  de  Ayllon's  heart  as  to  cause  his  death. 

But  now  let  us  return  to  the  discoveries  of  Francisco  Fernandez 
de  Cordova  and  Grijalva  on  the  northern  coast  of  Yucatan.  On 
approaching  the  shore,  the  Spaniards  had  been  astonished  to  find 
no  longer  rude  and  half-clad  savages,  but  people  well  dressed  in 
cotton  garments,  and  dwelling  apparently  in  edifices  of  stone.  They 
were  of  a  bold  and  martial  character,  and  received  the  strangers 
with  demonstrations  of  hostility.  Cordova  being,  as  we  have  said, 
wounded,  his  expedition  hastened  back  to  Cuba,  only  however  to  be 
followed  by  a  second,  when  the  southern  coast  of  Mexico  was 
discovered,  and  Juan  de  Grijalva  carried  home  with  him  a  large 
amount  of  treasure  obtained  by  traffic  with  the  natives.  Valesquez, 


10  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  governor  of  Cuba,  highly  pleased  with  the  result  of  this  expe- 
dition, resolved  on  the  conquest  of  this  rich  country,  and  hastily 
fitted  out  an  armament  of  eleven  vessels  for  this  purpose,  giving 
the  command  to  Fernando  Cortes. 

In  March,  1519,  Cortes  landed  in  Tabasco,  a  southern  province 
of  Mexico,  where  he  defeated  the  natives  with  great  slaughter. 
Advancing  from  this  point  westward,  he  reached  San  Juan  de  UUoa, 
where  he  was  kindly  received  by  two  officers  of  the  monarch,  Mon- 
tezuma,  who  had  been  sent  to  inquire  into  the  object  of  his  visit,  and 
to  offer  him  any  assistance  which  he  might  require.  Cortes  replied 
with  great  courtesy  that  his  business  was  important,  and  could  be 
confided  to  no  less  a  person  than  Montezuma  himself.  The  great 
monarch  of  Mexico,  not  being  accustomed  to  such  interviews,  his 
officers  made  valuable  presents  to  Cortes,  and  set  before  him  the  impos- 
sibility of  his  request.  In  vain;  Cortes  was  determined;  messen- 
gers were  sent  backwards  and  forwards,  and  magnificent  presents 
still  made  to  Cortes,  with  the  request  finally  that  he  would  depart. 
But  no ;  Cortes  destroyed  his  vessels,  to  prevent  his  soldiers  escaping, 
and  marched  to  the  capital  of  Mexico.  As  he  advanced,  the  disaffected 
in  Montezuma's  kingdom  joined  him.  Montezuma  was  overcome  by 
alarm. 

The  Spaniards  marched  onward ;  and  the  vast  plain  of  Mexico 
opened  before  them.  It  was  covered  with  villages  and  cultivated 
fields,  all  wearing  an  aspect  of  prosperity.  In  the  middle  of  the 
plain,  partly  encompassed  by  a  lake,  and  partly  built  on  the  islands 
within  it,  towered  aloft  the  city  of  Mexico,  like  some  gorgeous 
fairyland  city.  The  Spaniards  could  scarcely  believe  their  senses ; 
it  seemed  more  like  a  splendid  vision  than  reality.  Montezuma 
received  the  strangers  with  great  pomp  and  kindness ;  admitted  them 
into  the  city ;  appropriated  to  their  use  splendid  accommodations ; 
supplied  all  their  wants,  and  presented  them  with  gifts. 

Cortes,  astonished  at  what  had  befallen  him,  and  anxious  for  his 
own  safety,  thus  shut  up  in  the  very  heart  of  a  city  which  might, 
after  all,  be  hostile,  resolved  on  a  bold  expedient,  which  he  accom- 
plished with  wonderful  success.  He  seized  the  person  of  Montezuma, 
whom  he  held  as  a  hostage  for  the  good  faith  of  the  nation.  And 


(1520.)  CONQUEST   OF  MEXICO   BY   CORTES.  11 

thus,  having  the  astonished  monarch  in  his  power,  so  wrought  upon 
Ms  mind,  as  to  induce  him  to  acknowledge  himself  a  vassal  of  the 
crown  of  Spain,  and  subject  his  kingdom  to  an  annual  tribute. 

Cortes,  after  this,  was  compelled  to  return  to  Cuba  for  a  short 
time,  and  the  Mexicans,  incensed  by  the  cruelties  and  wanton 
excesses  of  the  Spaniards,  who  remained  in  charge  of  the  monarch 
and  his  capital,  rose  in  arms.  Cortes  returned,  and  at  once  threw 
aside  the  mask  of  moderation  which  he  had  hitherto  worn.  He 
compelled  Montezuma,  who  was  in  his  power,  to  interpose  with  his 
exasperated  people ;  the  captive  monarch  did  so,  and  an  aspect  of 
submission  was  for  the  moment  assumed.  The  Mexicans  reverenced 
their  monarch  almost  as  a  divinity,  and  bowed  their  heads  and 
dropped  their  weapons  at  sight  of  him;  but  when,  in  obedience 
to  the  commands  of  Cortes,  he  endeavoured  to  awaken  amicable 
sentiments  in  their  breasts  towards  the  Spaniards,  their  rage  burst 
forth  in  fury,  and  snatching  up  their  arms,  they  assailed  their 
enemies  with  tenfold  determination,  and  in  this  fresh  onset  the 
unfortunate  Montezuma  was  himself  mortally  wounded.  The  Mexi- 
cans, seeing  their  king  fall  by  their  own  hands,  believed  that  the 
vengeance  of  heaven  was  pursuing  them,  and  fled  j  and  Montezuma, 
refusing  all  food,  survived  but  a  short  time. 

The  position  of  Cortes,  in  the  heart  of  an  exasperated  nation, 
was  perilous  in  the  extreme.  He  commenced  his  retreat  from  the 
capital,  and  fighting  almost  every  yard  of  ground,  found  himself  on 
the  sixth  day  in  a  spacious  valley,  hemmed  in  by  an  innumerable 
army.  Nothing  was  left  but  to  conquer  or  die ;  and  they  were  but 
a  handful  of  men.  Multitudes  thronged  in  upon  them,  sufficient 
alone  to  trample  them  to  dust.  At  that  moment  Cortes  beheld  the 
great  Mexican  banner  advancing,  and  recollecting  to  have  heard  that 
upon  its  fate  depended  the  fate  of  every  Mexican  battle,  resolved,  at 
the  head  of  his  bravest  men,  to  hew  his  way  to  the  standard,  and  gain 
possession  of  it.  He  did  so.  The  Mexicans,  panic-stricken,  threw 
down  their  arms  and  fled  to  the  mountains. 

The  determination  of  Cortes  was  undaunted ;  he  resolved  to  accom- 
plish the  conquest  of  Mexico,  and  four  months  after  his  retreat,  having 
received  fresh  supplies  and  reinforcements,  he  again  departed  for  the 
interior,  and  after  a  siege  of  twenty-five  days,  the  successor  of 


12  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES, 

Montezuma  having  fallen  into  his  hands,  the  city  yielded,  and  the 
wealthy  Mexico  became  a  province  of  Spain.  This  occurred  in 
August,  1521. 

While  the  conquest  of  Mexico  was  taking  place,  another  important 
event  occurred  in  the  history  of  Spanish  discoveries.  Ferdinand 
Magellan,  having  spent  several  months  in  exploring  the  coast  of 
South  America,  finally  passed  through  the  strait  which  bears  his 
name,  thus  accomplishing  the  discovery  so  long  songht  for  of  a 
western  passage  to  India. 


(1528.)  PAMPHILO   DE   NAKVAEZ   IN   FLORIDA.  13 


CHAPTER    II. 

DISCOVERIES  CONTINUED. 

^FLORIDA  had  remained  unoccupied,  and  almost  disregarded,  for 
several  years,  when  Pamphilo  de  Narvaez  obtained  permission  from 
the  emperor  Charles  V.  to  effect  its  conquest ;  accordingly  he  landed 
on  the  coast  in  April,  1528,  with  three  hundred  men,  and,  erecting 
a  standard,  took  possession  for  Spain.  Fired  by  the  successes  of 
Cortes,  they  advanced  up  the  country,  hoping  to  find  a  second 
wealthy  empire ;  but  swamps  and  forests  met  them  everywhere, 
and  hosts  of  ambushed  savages  attacked  them.  Still  intimations 
of  a  country  northward  abounding  in  gold,  which  they  continued 
to  receive  from  captives  whom  they  had  taken,  and  now  employed 
as  guides,  lured  them  on.  But  they  found  nothing  save  a  village 
of  wigwams;  though  the  guides  still  persisted  that  still  further 
north  lay  a  region  full  of  gold.  Unwilling  to  adventure  further  to 
the  north,  they  directed  their  course  again  southward,  and  reached 
the  sea  after  a  journey  of  probably  800  miles,  their  numbers  being 
then  greatly  diminished.  They  constructed  five  boats,  but  of  so  frail 
a  description  that  only  desperate  men  would  have  ventured  their 
lives  in  them ;  and  Narvaez  and  most  of  his  companions  perished. 
Four  of  the  survivors  reached  Mexico  in  the  course  of  seven  years,  after 
a  series  of  wonderful  adventures  and  hardships,  having  travelled 
through  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Northern  Mexico,  passing  on  from  one 
tribe  of  Indians  to  another,  and  frequently  as  slaves.  A  marvellous 
story  of  wild  adventure  was  theirs ;  and,  like  an  earlier  Robinson- 
Crusoe  history,  calculated  to-  allure  others  into  the  same  path. 

The  most  remarkable  of  the  followers  of  these   men,  and  the 
believers  of  their  story,  was  Ferdinand  de  Soto,  a  Spanish  nobleman, 


14  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

and  courtier  of  Charles  V.,  by  whom  he  was  appointed  governor  of 
Cuba.  De  Soto  had  been  a  favourite  companion  of  Pizarro  in  the 
conquest  of  Peru,  and  had  distinguished  himself  in  the  storming  of 
Cusco.  Believing  all  the  wonders  which  were  related  of  the  golden 
regions  of  Florida,  he  resolved  to  fit  out  an  expedition  at  his  own  cost, 
and  conquer  these  lands  which  were  believed  to  be  more  beautiful 
and  richer  than  those  of  Mexico  and  Peru.  His  own  enthusiasm 
excited  that  of  others  ;  hundreds  of  young  men  of  birth  and  fortune 
enlisted  in  this  enterprise.  Property  of  all  kinds,  vineyards,  houses, 
valuables,  were  all  sold  to  purchase  arms,  horses,  and  equipments 
for  this  undertaking.  From  the  multitudes  who  offered  themselves 
for  this  expedition  of  conquest  and  discovery,  its  leader  selected  six 
hundred  young  men,  all  adventurous  and  ambitious  as  himself. 

The  landing  of  this  proud  and  gallant  company  on  the  shores  of 
the  new  world  was  a  splendid  spectacle.  Their  banners  floated  in 
the  soft  breezes  of  Florida ;  the  golden  sun  of  Florida  reflected 
itself  in  their  armour ;  and  thus  they  galloped  onward,  "  very 
gallant,"  says  the  old  chronicle,  "  silk  upon  silk,"  along  the  sea-shore 
of  that  region  which  they  believed  to  be  full  of  gold  and  great  cities, 
and  the  destined  conquerors  of  which  they  esteemed  themselves 
to  be. 

Ferdinand  de  Soto,  who,  like  Cortes,  wished  to  remove  all  possi- 
bility of  a  retreat,  either  for  himself  or  his  companions,  sent  back  all 
his  vessels  to  Cuba,  where  he  had  left  his  young  wife  as  governor 
during  his  absence.  It  was  in  the  month  of  May,  1539,  when  they 
set  out;  taking  with  them  weapons  of  all  kinds,  work-tools  and  an 
iron-forge,  as  well  as  chains  and  bloodhounds  for  the  subjection  of 
their  captives.  They  also  took  with  them  a  singular  accompani- 
ment for  so  gallant  an  army,  a  drove  of  three  hundred  swine, 
which  were  intended  to  stock  the  country  when  the  commander 
should  have  selected  his  seat  of  government ;  and  these  swine  were 
driven  with  the  expedition  through  nearly  the  whole  of  its  route. 

They  advanced  onward  through  a  wilderness  day  after  day,  and 
week  after  week,  amid  continual  skirmishes  with  the  natives,  and 
ever,  as  they  went,  mass  was  performed  by  priests  with  all  the  pomp 
of  Catholic  ceremonial ;  and  cruelties  were  practised  on  their  captives, 
•whilst  they  amused  themselves  by  gaming.  Thus  they  wandered 


(1539.)  FERDINAND   DE    SOTO    IN   FLORIDA.  15 

onward  through  uncultivated  regions  for  upwards  of  five  months, 
and  then  established  themselves  in  winter-quarters.  In  twelve 
months  they  had  advanced  to  the  ocean — to  the  very  spot  whence 
Narvaez  had  embarked;  they  had  found  plenty  of  maize,  but  no 
gold,  and  no  cities  but  only  small  Indian  villages.  Next  spring  they 
broke  up  their  winter  camp,  and  set  out  for  a  remote  country,  of 
which  they  had  heard,  lying  to  the  north-east,  abounding  in  gold 
and  silver,  and  the  ruler  of  which  was  a  woman. 

They  now  advanced  to  the  north-east,  made  a  long  and  arduous 
journey,  and  arrived  indeed  at  the  territory  of  the  queen,  of  whose 
wealth  they  had  conceived  such  extravagant  hopes ;  but  the  gold 
proved  to  be  copper,  and  the  silver  thin  plates  of  mica.     Still  Soto 
advancing  with  a  perseverance  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  came  to  the 
spring-heads  of  vast  rivers,  and  thus  reached  the  Highlands  of 
Georgia,  where  he  fell  in  with  the  peaceable  and  gentle  Cherokee 
Indians.      This  was  the  second  year  of  his  wanderings.      Some  of 
de  Soto's  companions  wished  to  settle  down  here  in  the  midst  of  a 
beautiful  region,  and  enjoy  the  riches  of  an  abundant  soil.      But 
no, — de  Soto  would  not  listen  to  such  a  scheme  :  he  had  promised  a 
second  Peru  and  Mexico  to  Spain,  and  he  would  not  desist  from 
his  wanderings  till  they  were  found.    He  was  a  resolute  man,  of 
few  words,  and  his  followers  yielded  themselves  to  his  commands. 
Again  he  heard  of  gold  still  further  north,  and  despatched  two 
horsemen,  with  Indian  guides,  to  visit  the  country ;  and  once  more 
they  returned  with  copper ;  gold  there  was  none.      They  wandered 
still  further,  advancing  into  Alabama,  where  was  a  large  Indian  town, 
Mavilla,  afterwards  Mobile.      The  Indians  rose  in  arms;  a  battle 
ensued ;  the  Spanish  cavalry  were  victors :  it  was  the  bloodiest  battle 
ever  known  in  Indian  warfare.     The  Indians  fought  for  nine  hours, 
and  several  thousands  were  slaughtered;  the  town  was  burned  to 
ashes,  and  numbers  of  Indians  perished  in  the  flames.     The  Spa- 
niards also  lost  many  of  their  number,  together  with  horses  and  the 
whole  of  their  baggage.    Their  situation  was  terrible  in  the  extreme ; 
food  they  had  none,  nor  medicines  for  the  wounded — all  were  lost. 
Fortunately  for  them,  however,  the  spirit  of  the  Indians  was  so  com- 
pletely broken,  that  they  could  no  longer  molest  them.     Spanish 
ships,  from  Cuba,  now  awaited  them  with  supplies  in  Pensacola 


16  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Bay,  near  Mavilla.  But,  fearing  that  his  disheartened  soldiers 
might  leave  him,  and  as  he  had  no  tidings  of  gold  and  great  glory  to 
send  home,  and  was  too  proud  to  send  any  other,  he  turned  away  from 
the  sea-coast,  and  again  advanced  inland. 

Winter  overtook  them  in  the  northern  parts  of  Mississippi,  with 
severe  frost  and  snow,  and  they  established  themselves  in  an  Indian 
village,  which  the  inhabitants  had  deserted  at  their  approach,  and  in 
the  fields  of  which  the  maize  still  remained  uncut.  The  Indians 
returned  in  the  depth  of  winter  and  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  set 
fire  to  the  village.  All  that  had  been  saved  from  the  fires  of 
Mavilla  was  now  destroyed;  they  lost  all  their  beloved  swine, 
many  of  their  horses,  and  all  their  clothes.  Their  sufferings  were 
intense.  De  Soto  ordered  the  chains  to  be  taken  from  the  captives, 
and  new  weapons  to  be  forged.  Clothed  in  skins  and  mats  of  ivy- 
leaves,  he  still  advanced  further  west  in  search  of  the  land  of  gold. 
For  seven  days  they  wandered  on  through  wildernesses  of  forest  and 
morass,  and  reached  the  Indian  settlements  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Mississippi.  De  Soto  was  the  first  European  who  beheld  that  mighty 
river.  He  saw  it  then  as  the  familiar  trader  on  its  banks  beholds 
it  now,  rolling  its  immense  mass  of  waters  through  a  rich  alluvial 
soil,  more  than  a  mile  broad,  and  carrying  trees  and  timber  down  its 
turbid  flood. 

In  May,  1541,  the  Spaniards,  having  constructed  boats,  crossed 
the  river,  and  proceeded  westward  into  Arkansas.  The  natives, 
regarding  them  with  reverence,  and  believing  them  to  be  the  children 
of  the  sun,  brought  their  blind  to  them,  that  they  might  receive  sight. 
"  Pray  only  to  God  who  dwells  in  heaven,"  replied  de  Soto,  "  and  He 
will  give  you  what  you  need." 

De  Soto  proceeded  onward  in  the  direction  of  the  north-west, 
and  reached  the  mountains  of  the  White  River,  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  Mississippi ;  but  there  were  neither  gold  nor  precious  stones 
in  these  mountains.  They  took  up  their  third  winter-quarters  among 
peaceful  Indians,  who  pursued  agriculture  rather  than  war ;  and 
the  young  cavaliers  found  their  pastime  in  practising  cruelties  on  the 
natives.  In  the  spring,  de  Soto  descended  the  White  River,  and 
became  entangled  in  the  midst  of  dismal  swamps  ;  Indian  settlements 
there  were  none  j  the  whole  country  was  apparently  interminable 


(1541.)  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.  17 

morass,  forest,  and  cane  brake.  De  Soto  received  in  gloomy  silence 
this  report  from  scouts  whom  he  had  sent  forward.  Horses  and  men 
lay  dying  around  him ;  and,  to  add  still  more  to  his  distress,  hostile 
Indians  were  coming  up  on  all  sides.  His  ambitious  pride  was  now 
changed  into  deep  melancholy,  and  his  health  gave  way  under  the 
pressure  of  disappointed  hope.  Of  his  gallant  company,  three  hun- 
dred alone  remained. 

Feeling  the  approach  of  death,  he  summoned  his  people  round  him, 
and  named  his  successor.  "  The  following  day  he  died.  "His 
soldiers,"  says  Bancroft,  "  pronounced  his  eulogy  by  sorrowing 
for  his  loss.  The  priests  chanted  over  his  body  the  first  requiem  that 
was  ever  heard  by  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi."  His  body  was 
wrapped  in  a  mantle,  and,  in  the  dead  of  night,  his  soldiers  bore 
him  to  the  middle  of  the  Mississippi,  and  silently  sunk  his  body  in 
the  river. 

Singular  to  say,  this  was  once  more  the  month  of  May,  four  years 
from  the  time  of  his  setting  forth ;  "  the  spring  burst  forth  glori- 
ously over  the  Mississippi,"  says  a  writer  on  this  subject,  "  but  de 
Soto  rose  up  no  more  to  meet  it."  "  The  discoverer  of  the  Missis- 
sippi," concludes  Bancroft,  "  slept  beneath  its  waters.  For  four  years 
he  had  wandered  to  and  fro  over  a  great  portion  of  the  continent  in 
search  of  gold,  but  he  found  nothing  so  remarkable  as  his  place  of 
burial." 

The  successor  whom  de  Soto  had  appointed  now  attempted  to 
lead  back  the  remnant  of  the  party  by  the  way  of  Mexico  ;  but,  after 
several  months'  wanderings  and  adventures  among  the  hostile  tribes 
of  the  western  prairies,  they  retraced  their  steps  to  the  Mississippi,  on 
the  banks  of  which  they  passed  the  winter.  Here  they  constructed 
boats,  which  were  ready  for  their  embarkation  in  the  month  of 
July,  and  on  the  20th  of  September,  1543,  they  arrived,  half-naked 
and  famished  with  hunger,  at  a  Spanish  settlement  near  the  mouth  of 
the  river  Panuco,  in  Mexico. 

Such  was  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  next  adventurer  on  this  ill-fated  field  was  Louis  Cancello,  a 
priest  of  the  Dominican  order,  anxious  to  convert  the  nations :  his 
scheme,  however,  fared  no  better  than  those  of  others ;  the  mis- 


18  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

sionary  priests  were  looked  upon  with  suspicion,  and  Cancello  and 
two  of  his  companions  fell  martyrs  to  their  zeal. 

A  spell  seemed  to  rest  upon  these  shores ;  nevertheless  the  name 
of  Florida,  as  if  it  were  full  of  good  omen,  was  conferred  upon  the 
whole  extent  of  American  territory,  not  only  on  the  portion  of 
Florida  proper  on  the  Mexican  gulf,  but  northward  to  Canada  itself, 
all  of  which  vast  territory  was  claimed  by  Spain ;  still  not  a  fort 
was  erected  on  its  shores,  not  a  single  colony  was  established  ;  and 
when  at  length  a  permanent  settlement  of  the  Spaniards  was  effected 
in  Florida,  it  was  only  by  means  of  jealous  and  bloody  bigotry. 

But  this  will  lead  us  back  to  France  and  French  affairs.  The 
good  Coligny,  admiral  of  France,  who  had  long  been  seeking  an 
asylum  for  the  persecuted  Huguenots  in  America,  and  who  indulged 
the  hope  of  establishing  a  French  protestant  empire  in  that  country, 
obtained,  after  long  perseverance,  a  commission  from  the  king  to 
that  purpose,  and  in  1562  a  squadron  sailed  for  Florida,  under  com- 
mand of  John  Bibault,  of  Dieppe,  a  brave  man  and  a  true  protestant, 
accompanied  by  some  of  the  best  young  French  nobility,  together 
with  experienced  troops.  Arriving  on  the  coast  in  the  month  of 
May,  1562,  he  discovered  St.  John's  River,  which  he  named  the  river 
of  May ;  the  shores  were  covered  with  groves  of  mulberries,  and  the 
whole  scenery  was  of  a  pleasing  character.  He  sailed  northward, 
giving  French  names  to  the  rivers  and  prominent  points  of  the 
shore,  until  he  reached  Port  Royal  entrance,  near  the  southern 
boundary  of  Carolina,  and  here  he  resolved  to  found  the  colony.  A 
fort  was  erected,  and  called  Fort  Charles,  or  the  Carolina,  in  honour 
ofxCharles  IX.  of  France,  and  this  name,  given  a  century  before  the 
English  took  possession,  became  the  adopted  name  of  the  country. 

The  site  of  the  infant  colony  delighted  its  founders ;  its  harbour 
was  capable  of  containing  a  whole  navy;  immense  oaks,  the  growth  of 
centuries,  groves  of  pine,  abounding  with  game,  and  flowers  whose 
perfume  filled  the  air,  rendered  the  country  beautiful.  Ribault  left 
twenty-six  men  to  keep  possession,  and  returned  to  France  for  fresh 
emigrants  and  supplies ;  but  in  the  meantime  civil  war  had  begun  to 
rage  in  that  country,  and  the  reinforcements  for  which  Ribault  had 
come  were  not  to  bo  had.  The  condition  of  the  colonists  became 


(1561.)  FLORIDA  COLONISED   BY   HUGUENOTS.  19 

desperate;  dissensions  broke  out  among  them;  and  the  following 
spring  they  embarked  in  a  hastily-constructed  brigantine  for  their 
native  land.  Their  provisions,  however,  were  insufficient  for  the 
vovage,  and  they  must  have  perished  of  famine  had  they  not  fallen 
in  with  an  English  vessel,  which  received  them  on  board. 

Again,  two  years  later,  Coligny  renewed  His  endeavours  for  the 
colonisation  of  Florida,  and  three  ships  were  sent  out  under  the 
command  of  Laudonniere.  Emigrants  offered  abundantly,  for  the 
feme  of  the  climate  of  Florida  had  awoke  general  enthusiasm ;  life 
there,  it  was  said,  was  extended  to  twice  its  usual  limits,  besides 
which,  it  was  still  believed  that  a  golden  realm  lay  hidden  in  its 
interior,  and  Coligny,  who  wished  to  obtain  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  country,  engaged  a  painter  called  De  Morgues  to  accompany 
the  expedition,  that  he  might  make  coloured  drawings  of  all  scenes 
and  objects  which  interested  him. 

The  misfortunes  of  the  late  colonists  of  Port  Royal  deterred  the 
present  from  going  thither ;  and  after  a  little  search  they  discovered 
so  beautiful  a  situation,  that  the  most  delightful  anticipations  were 
excited.  The  Huguenots  thanked  God  in  hymns  of  praise  for  a  glo- 
rious home  of  peace,  as  they  believed,  in  the  wilderness.  The  natives 
received  them  with  the  utmost  kindness,  rival  tribes  vying  which 
should  show  them  most  distinction.  Again  the  new  colony  received 
the  name  of  Carolina. 

Many  of  the  emigrants,  however,  who  had  eome  out  in  this  expe- 
dition were  dissolute  adventurers ;  their  excesses  turned  the  hearts 
of  the  Indians  against  them :  the  supplies  were  wasted,  and  famine 
threatened  them.  Under  pretence  of  desiring  to  escape  from  famine, 
some  of  their  number  were  permitted  to  embark  for  New  Spain, 
but  no  sooner  was  this  liberty  granted  than  they  commenced  a  series 
of  piracies  against  the  Spaniards.  Before  long  their  vessel  was 
taken.  Theirs  was  the  first  aggression  in  the  New  World,  and  soon 
brought  down  its  punishment.  The  pirate  vessel  being  seized,  most 
of  its  men  were  sold  as  slaves,  and  such  as  escaped  to  Carolina 
were  condemned  to  death  by  Laudonniere.  Meantime  the  famine 
had  become  extreme;  for  three  months  there  seemed  no  prospect 
but  death  for  the  little  colony,  and  they  must  have  perished  had  not 
Sir  John  Hawkins,  the  famous  slave-merchant,  who  was  just  return- 


20  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ing  from  the  West  Indies,  whither  he  had  conveyed  a  cargo  of  unfor- 
tunate Africans,  relieved  their  wants,  and  even  furnished  them  with 
a  vessel,  in  which  they  were  about  to  return  to  France,  when  Bibault 
arrived  with  fresh  emigrants,  abundant  supplies,  implements  of 
husbandry,  and  domestic  animals  of  all  kinds.  New  life  was 
infused  into  the  colony ;  God  was  thanked  fervently,  and  protestan- 
tism, it  was  hoped,  had  now  found  a  safe  and  fixed  abode  in  the 
beautiful  Florida. 

In  the  meantime  news  reached  Spain  that  a  company  of  French 
protestants  had  established  themselves  in  the  Spanish  territory. 
Spain  at  home  was  inveterate  against  France,  Catholicism  against 
protestantism ;  and  Pedro  Melendez  de  Aviles,  a  soldier  long  accus- 
tomed to  scenes  of  blood,  a  bigoted  catholic,  a  naval  commander, 
who,  having  often  been  employed  against  pirates,  was  accustomed  to 
acts  of  summary  vengeance,  and  who  had  been  appointed  to  the 
government  of  Florida  on  condition  that  he  subdued  it  in  three 
years,  introduced  at  least  four  Jesuit  priests,  and  imported  five 
hundred  negro  slaves  for  the  cultivation  of  the  sugar-cane,  which  it 
was  intended  to  introduce,  was  now  hastily  despatched  to  his  office, 
with  the  strict  injunction  to  extirpate  all  heretics.  The  fury  in  Spain 
against  the  heretic-settlers  in  Florida  waxed  hot ;  between  two  and 
three  thousand  persons,  soldiers,  sailors,  priests,  Jesuits,  etc.,  engaged 
in  the  expedition.  Melendez,  who  considered  that  "  celerity  was  the 
secret  of  success,"  lost  no  time  in  any  of  his  movements.  Early  in 
September  he  came  in  sight  of  Florida,  and  discovering  some  French 
ships,  gave  them  chase,  but  could  not  overtake  them.  A  few  days 
later  he  reached  a  beautiful  bay  and  river,  and  as  it  happened  to  be 
the  day  of  St.  Augustine,  he  gave  that  name  to  both.  Soon  after 
which,  sailing  northward,  he  discovered  the  French  ships  at  anchor. 

The  French  demanded  his  name,  and  the  purport  of  his  voyage. 
"  I  am  Melendez  of  Spain,"  replied  he,  "  sent  with  strict  orders  from 
my  king  to  gibbet  and  behead  all  the  protestants  in  these  regions. 
The  Frenchman,  who  is  a  catholic,  will  I  spare ;  every  heretic  shall 
die!" 

The  French  ships  not  being  prepared  to  fight,  cut  their  cables 
and  fled,  and  the  Spaniards,  unable  to  overtake  them,  returned 
to  the  harbour  of  St.  Augustine.  Here  they  took  solemn  possession 


(1565.)    THE   SPANIARDS  IN  FLORIDA  UNDER  MELENDEZ  DE  AVILES.       21 

of  the  continent  in  the  name  of  the  bigoted  Philip  II.,  whom  they 
proclaimed  king  of  all  North  America,  and  having  performed  mass, 
laid  the  foundations  of  St.  Augustine,  the  oldest  town,  by  forty  years, 
of  any  in  America. 

In  a  few  days  the  French  put  out  to  sea,  with  the  intention  of 
attacking  the  Spaniards  within  the  harbour;  but  a  furious  storm 
overtook  them,  which  lasted  for  more  than  two  weeks,  and  wrecked 
every  vessel ;  the  Spaniards  in  the  meantime  lying  in  harbour  com- 
paratively safe.  Melendez  now  marched  his  troops  across  the 
country,  and  suddenly  made  an  attack  upon  the  defenceless  French 
settlement,  putting  to  death  all  whom  he  could  seize,  men,  women, 
and  children,  the  aged  and  the  sick;  some  few  escaping,  fled  to 
the  woods  and  afterwards  took  shelter  on  board  the  only  two  ships 
which  had  been  spared  by  the  tempest.  The  Spaniards,  enraged  that 
even  a  remnant  had  escaped,  insulted  and  mangled  the  corpses 
of  the  dead.  After  these  scenes  of  horror  were  completed,  mass 
was  performed,  and  the  site  of  a  church  was  selected  on  the  very 
ground  yet  crimson  and  sodden  with  the  blood  of  the  inoffensive 
inhabitants. 

The  few  who  had  escaped  to  the  ships  were  in  the  utmost  want 
of  every  necessary  of  life,  worn  out  by  fatigue,  and  destitute  both 
of  food  and  water.  Melendez,  who  was  aware  of  their  wretched 
condition,  promised  them  mercy  if  they  would  surrender  themselves 
into  his  hands.  Being  men  of  truth  themselves,  they  believed  his 
words  and  capitulated.  As  they  stepped  on  shore,  however,  their 
hands  were  at  once  tied  behind  them,  and  they  were  marched 
as  prisoners  into  St.  Augustine.  A  signal  was  given ;  and  to  the 
sound  of  drums  and  trumpets  they  were  all  massacred,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  catholics  and  a  few  mechanics,  who  were  reserved 
for  slaves;  and  over  their  mangled  remains  was  placed  the  in- 
scription, "  This  is  done  not  as  unto  Frenchmen,  but  as  unto  heretics." 
Nine  hundred  true  men,  worshippers  of  God  according  to  their  pro- 
testant  faith,  are  supposed  to  have  perished  on  those  shores,  victims 
of  bigotry. 

The  French  government  did  not  trouble  itself  about  these  things  j 
the  Huguenots  and  the  French  nation,  however,  resented  them  keenly. 
A  bold  soldier  of  Gascony,  Dominic  de  Gourgues,  a  man  whose 


22  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

life  had  been  a  series  of  adventures  and  hardships,  sold  his  property 
to  acquire  the  means  of  avenging  the  wrongs  of  his  fellow-country- 
men and  believers.  With  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  three 
ships  he  embarked  for  Florida ;  they  were  but  a  handful  against 
the  Spanish  power,  but  their  object  was  not  conquest — it  was  retri- 
butive justice,  if  not  revenge.  Like  Melendez  he  came  suddenly  ; 
and  surprising  two  Spanish  forts  on  St.  John's  river,  took  them  at 
once,  together  with  a  still  larger  fort  on  the  spot  where  the  unfor- 
tunate French  settlement  had  stood.  He  executed  summary  justice, 
hung  his  prisoners  on  the  trees,  with  this  inscription,  "  I  do  this 
not  as  unto  Spaniards  or  mariners,  but  as  unto  traitors,  robbers, 
and  murderers."  And  the  Indians,  who  had  been  ill-used  both 
by  the  French  and  the  Spaniards,  looked  on  well  pleased  to  see  their 
enemies  preying  one  on  another. 

Dominic  de  Gourgues,  having  avenged  his  countrymen,  again 
disappeared  with  his  ships,  and  France  disavowing  all  cognisance  of 
the  circumstance,  relinquished  any  claim  to  Florida ;  and  Spain 
remained  in  possession.  The  Spanish  dominion  in  America  was 
magnificent.  Cuba  was  the  centre  of  the  West  Indian  possessions. 
"  From  the  remotest  south-eastern  cape  of  the  Caribbean,"  says  the 
historian,  "  along  the  whole  shore,  to  the  Cape  of  Florida,  and 
beyond  it,  all  was  hers.  The  Gulf  of  Mexico  lay  embosomed  within 
her  territories." 

About  the  time  when  the  impetuous  Dominic  de  Gourgues  returned 
to  France  from  his  swoop  of  vengeance  in  Florida,  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
one  of  the  most  gallant  spirits  of  the  age,  suddenly  left  his  studies 
at  Oxford  to  take  part  with  the  Huguenots  in  their  struggles  against 
the  catholics.  From  his  protestant  friends  he  heard  of  the  massacre 
which  De  Gourgues  had  avenged,  and  from  that  brave  man  himself, 
and  his  associates,  learnt  much  also  of  the  country  where  these  scenes 
had  occurred.  The  imagination  of  Raleigh  was  inflamed ;  on  his 
return  to  England  he  found  the  same  spirit  afloat ;  a  few  of  the 
unfortunate  Huguenots  had  escaped  to  England,  and  their  tale  of 
wrong  had  interested  even  Queen  Elizabeth  herself.  Hawkins,  too, 
the  slaver,  who  had  relieved  the  famishing  settlement,  had  much 
to  tell  of  the  wonderful  regions  where  these  things  had  been  done ; 
so  had  De  Morgues,  the  landscape  painter,  who  had  fortunately 


(1576.)   ENGLISH   DISCOVERY — WILLOUGIIBY   AND    CHANCELLOR.  23 

escaped  with  many  sketches  of  its  scenery.  The  leading  minds  of 
England  were  turned  to  Florida. 

From  the  time  of  Cabot,  England  had  never  wholly  given  up  her 
intercourse  with  the  New  World.  English  mariners,  as  well  as 
French,  frequented  the  fisheries  of  Newfoundland.  Henry  VIII. 
declared  that  he  considered  the  discovery  of  the  North  "  to  be  his 
charge  and  duty;"  and  Hakluyt  records  a  wild  sea-voyage,  con- 
ducted by  a  man  named  Hore>  in  which  marvellous  things  are 
told  far  outdoing  those  of  the  Ancient  Mariner.  The  search  for 
the  north-western  passage  still  continued ;  the  fleets  of  Willoughby 
and  Chancellor  set  sail.  In  the  north  their  ships  parted  company  < 
The  fate  of  Willoughby  was  an  early  tragedy  in  those  mournful 
and  fatal  seas.  After  a  winter  of  great  hardship,  the  vessels  which 
went  in  search  of  him  the  following  spring  found  him  dead  in  his 
cabin,  his  journal  open  before  him,  containing  a  record  of  the  ship's 
sufferings  to  the  very  day  of  his  death,  and  with  his  faithful  crew 
lying  dead  around  him.  Chancellor,  on  the  contrary,  was  driven 
in  a  north-eastern  direction,  and  reached  the  harbour  of  Archangel, 
and  thus  the  Bussian  nation,  like  another  New  World,  emerged, 
as  it  were,  into  being.  Joint-stock  companies,  for  the  discovery 
of  unknown  lands,  were  first  formed  in  1555.  The  marriage  of 
Mary  with  Philip  of  Spain  brought  the  magnificent  discoveries  and 
productions  of  that  country  into  a  closer  proximity  with  England, 
and  a  desire  to  emulate  the  successes  of  Spain  in  the  New  World 
was  excited. 

The  spirit  of  Elizabeth  seconded  that  of  her  people.  The  nation 
had  now  assumed  a  more  determined  and  a  prouder  front  in  their 
resentment  of  the  attempt  of  Spain  to  render  them  an  appendage 
to  the  Spanish  crown,  and  by  the  successful  struggle  of  protest- 
antism against  Catholicism.  England  strengthened  her  navy ;  fre- 
quented the  bays  and  banks  of  Newfoundland ;  sent  out  adventurers 
to  Russia  and  Africa;  endeavoured  to  reach  Persia  by  land,  and 
enlarged  her  commerce  with  the  East,  whilst  her  privateers  lay  in 
wait  at  sea  for  the  rich  galleons  of  Spain.  The  study  of  geography 
was  universally  cultivated,  and  books  of  travels  and  adventures  by 
land  and  sea  were  eagerly  read.  Frobisher,  the  boldest  mariner  who 
ever  crossed  the  ocean,  set  forth  to  discover  the  long-sought-for 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

north-western  passage,  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  waved  her  hand  to  him 
in  token  of  favour,  as  he  sailed  down  the  Thames.  Frobishcr,  like 
all  the  rest  of  the  world,  hoped  to  find  gold.  If  the  Spaniards 
had  found  gold  in  the  south,  England  was  confident  of  finding 
gold  in  the  north.  Elizabeth  entered  enthusiastically  into  the  scheme 
of  planting  a  colony  among  the  wealthy  mines  of  the  polar  regions, 
where  gold,  it  was  said,  lay  on  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Fro- 
bisher  was  followed  by  a  second  fleet,  but  the}'  found  only  frost  and 
icebergs. 

Whilst  Frobisher  and  his  ships  were  thus  vainly  endeavouring 
to  discover  an  el  Dorado  in  the  north,  Sir  Francis  Drake  was 
acquiring  immense  wealth  as  a  freebooter  on  the  Spanish  main,  and 
winning  great  glory  by  circumnavigating  the  globe,  after  having 
explored  the  north-western  coast  of  America,  as  far  north  as  the 
forty-third  degree.  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  also,  a  man  of  sound 
judgment  and  deeply  religious  mind,  obtained  a  charter  from  Queun 
Elizabeth,  in  1578,  for  the  more  rational  purposes  of  colonisation. 
He  set  sail  with  three  vessels,  accompanied  by  his  step-brother,  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh;  but  a  series  of  disasters  befel  them;  the  largest 
vessel  was  wrecked,  and  a  hundred  perished,  among  whom  was  Par- 
menius,  a  Hungarian  scholar,  who  had  gone  out  as  historian  of 
the  expedition.  On  the  homeward  voyage  they  were  overtaken 
by  a  great  storm.  "We  are  as  near  to  heaven  on  sea  as  on 
land,"  said  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  sitting  abaft  with  a  book  in  his 
hand.  And  the  same  night  his  little  vessel  went  down,  and  all  on 
board  perished. 

The  brave  spirit  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  was  not  discouraged,  though 
he  deeply  deplored  the  loss  of  his  noble  step-brother.  He  resolved 
now  to  secure  to  England  those  glorious  countries  where  the  poor 
French  protestants  had  suffered  so  deeply ;  and  a  patent  was  readily 
granted,  constituting  him  Lord  Proprietary,  with  almost  unlimited 
powers,  according  to  the  Christian  protestant  faith,  of  all  land  which 
he  might  discover  between  the  33rd  and  40th  degrees  of  north 
latitude.  Under  this  patent,  Raleigh  despatched,  as  avant-courier 
ehips,  two  vessels  under  the  command  of  Philip  Armidas  and  Arthur 
Barlow.  In  the  month  of  July  they  reached  the  coast  of  North 
America,  having  perceived  while  far  out  at  sea  the  fragrance  as  of  & 


(1585.)  RALEIGH    SENDS  AN   EXPEDITION    TO   VIRGINIA.  25 

delicious  garden,  from  the  odoriferous  flowers  of  the  shore.  Finding, 
after  some  search,  a  convenient  harbour,  they  landed,  and  offering 
thanks  to  God  for  their  safe  arrival,  took  formal  possession  in  the 
name  of  the  queen  of  England. 

The  spot  on  which  they  landed  was  the  island  of  "VVocoken. 
The  shores  of  this  part  of  America  are  peculiar,  inasmuch  as,  during 
one  portion  of  the  year,  they  are  exposed  to  furious  tempests,  against 
which  the  low  flat  shore  affords  no  defence  of  harbourage ;  in  the 
summer  season,  on  the  contrary,  the  sea  and  air  are  alike  tranquil, 
the  whole  presenting  the  most  paradisaical  aspect,  whilst  the  vegeta- 
tion is  calculated  to  strike  the  beholder  with  wonder  and  delight. 
The  English  strangers  beheld  the  country  under  its  most  favourable 
circumstances  ;  the  grapes  being  so  plentiful  that  the  surge  of  the 
ocean,  as  it  lazily  rolled  in  upon  the  shore,  dashed  its  spray  upon  the 
clusters.  "  The  forests  formed  themselves  into  wonderfully  beautiful 
bowers,  frequented  by  multitudes  of  birds.  It  was  like  a  garden 
of  Eden,  and  the  gentle,  friendly  inhabitants  appeared  in  unison 
with  the  scene.  On  the  island  of  Roanoke  they  were  received  by 
the  wife  of  the  king,  and  entertained  with  Arcadian  hospitality." 

Charmed  by  all  that  they  had  seen,  the  English  voyagers  returned, 
after  a  very  short  stay,  having  laden  their  ships  with  cedar,  to  which 
were  added  skins  and  furs  obtained  from  the  Indians,  and  sassafras, 
which  had  been  introduced  from  Florida  by  the  Spaniards,  and 
was  in  great  repute  as  a  panacea ;  besides  all  this  they  carried  with 
them  two  natives  of  this  western  paradise,  Manteo  and  Wanchcse. 
So  glowing  were  the  descriptions  which  they  gave  of  the  country 
that  Elizabeth,  who  regarded  it  as  an  honour  to  her  reign  that 
during  it  these  glorious  lands  had  been  discovered,  conferred  upon 
them  her  favourite  appellation  of  Virginia. 

The  report  brought  by  these  heralds  of  discovery  excited  the 
utmost  enthusiasm,  and  Raleigh,  who  was  now  knighted,  made 
active  preparations  for  a  second  expedition,  which  should  consist 
of  seven  vessels,  and  take  out  one  hundred  and  fifty  colonists. 
Sir  Ralph  Lane  was  appointed  governor  of  the  colony,  and  Sir 
Richard  Grenville,  one  of  the  bravest  men  of  the  age,  took  the  com- 
mand of  the  fleet.  They  set  sail  on  the  9th  of  April,  1585,  reckon- 

VOL.  i.  2 


26  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED  STATES. 

ing  among  their  company  many  distinguished  men — Cavendish, 
afterwards  the  circumnavigator,  and  Hariot,  the  inventor  of  the  system 
of  notation  in  modern  algebra,  "being  of  the  number.  After  some 
few  disasters  and  narrowly  escaping  shipwreck  on  the  coast  of 
Florida,  they  reached  Roanoke,  where  it  was  intended  to  found 
the  colony.  Manteo,  one  of  the  Indians  who  had  accompanied  the 
former  party  to  England,  and  had  now  returned,  being  first  sent  on 
shore  to  announce  their  intention  to  the  natives.  Immediately 
afterwards  a  circumstance  occurred  which  is  to  be  regretted.  Gren- 
ville,  Lane,  and  others  of  the  principal  adventurers,  made  an  excur- 
sion up  the  country,  being  everywhere  well  received  by  the  natives. 
At  one  Indian  town,  however,  a  silver  cup  was  stolen,  and  not 
being  immediately  restored,  Grenville  ordered  the  village  to  be 
set  fire  to,  and  the  standing  corn  destroyed.  This  naturally 
incensed  the  natives. 

The  colonists,  however,  landed,  and  soon  afterwards  the  ships 
returned  to  England ;  Grenville  taking  a  rich  Spanish  prize  by  the 
way.  Lane  and  his  colonists  explored  the  country,  and  Lane  wrote 
home :  "  It  is  the  goodliest  soil  under  the  cope  of  heaven ;  the  most 
pleasing  territory  in  the  world;  the  continent  is  of  a  huge  and 
unknown  greatness,  and  very  well  peopled  and  towned,  though 
savagely.  The  climate  is  so  wholesome  that  we  have  none  sick.  If 
Virginia  had  but  horses  and  kine  and  were  inhabited  by  English,  no 
realm  in  Christendom  were  comparable  to  it."  Hariot's  observations 
were  directed  to  "  the  natural  inhabitants,"  and  to  the  productions  of 
the  colony  with  reference  to  commerce ;  he  observed  the  culture  of 
tabacco,  used  it  himself,  and  had  great  faith  in  its  salutary  quali- 
ties ;  he  paid  great  attention  to  the  maize  and  the  potatoe,  "  which 
when  boiled  he  found  to  be  good  eating."  He  carefully  studied  the 
manners,  customs,  and  faith  of  the  Indians ;  exhibited  to  them  his 
mathematical  instruments,  guns,  clocks,  etc.,  exciting  in  their  minds 
the  utmost  respect  and  reverence  for  the  English,  as  pupils  and  favour- 
ites of  heaven.  He  exhibited  the  Bible  to  them  wherever  he  went, 
and  explained  its  truths,  which  affected  them  with  profound  regard 
and  awe.  The  fire-arms  which  killed  at  a  distance  filled  them 
with  superstitious  terror.  Their  wise  men  prophesied  that  "  more 


(1585.)          THE    COLONY    OF   VIRGINIA   ABANDONED — DRAKE.  27 

of  the  English  generation  •would  yet  come,  who  would  kill  theirs 
and  take  their  places." 

In  the  meantime,  the  mass  of  the  colonists,  who  were  rahid  for  gold, 
listened  to  wonderful  tales  invented  by  artful  Indians,  who  wished  to 
be  rid  of  these  awe-inspiring  strangers.  The  river  Roanoke,  they 
said,  gushed  forth  from  a  rock  near  the  Pacific  Ocean,  that  a  nation 
dwelt  on  its  remote  banks,  skilful  in  refining  gold,  and  that  they  occu- 
pied a  city  the  walls  of  which  glittered  with  pearls.  Even  sir  Richard 
Lane  was  credulous  enough  to  believe  these  tales^  and  ascended  the  river 
with  a  party  in  order  to  reach  this  golden  region.  They  advanced 
onward,  finding  nothing,  till  they  were  reduced  to  the  utmost 
extremity  of  famine.  The  Indians,  disappointed  by  'their  return, 
resolved  to  cultivate  no  more  corn,  so  that  they  might  be  driven  from 
the  country  by  want,  and  the  English,  divining  their  views,  having 
invited  the  chief  to  a  conference,  fell  upon  him  and  slew  him,  with 
many  of  his  followers.  Lane  was  unfit  for  his  office.  This  act  of 
treachery  exasperated  the  Indians  to  such  a  degree  that  they 
would  no  longer  give  him  supplies.  The  colony  was  about  to  perish 
by  famine,  as  the  Indians  desired,  when  Sir  Francis  Drake  appeared 
outside  the  harbour  with  a  fleet  of  twenty-three  ships.  He  was  on 
his  way  from  the  West  Indies,  and  was  now  come  to  visit  his  friends. 
No  visit  could  have  been  more  opportune  nor  more  welcome. 

He  supplied  their  wants  ;  appropriated  to  them  a  vessel  of  seventy 
tons  with  pinnaces  and  small  boats.  All  that  they  could  need 
for  sustenance  or  for  the  pursuit  of  discovery,  he  appointed  for 
them.  Strange  however  to  say,  a  sudden  storm  came  on;  there 
was  no  security  for  the  fleet  but  to  weigh  anchor  and  go  out  to 
sea ;  when  the  tempest  was  over,  and  Drake  returned  to  the  shore, 
he  found  all  his  preparations  for  the  colony  scattered  as  wrecks 
on  the  waves.  The  colonists  were  completely  disheartened ;  and 
at  their  entreaties  Drake  received  them  on  board  his  ships,  and  con- 
veyed them  back  to  England,  after  an  absence  of  about  twelve 
months,  during  which  time  they  had  accustomed  themselves  to  the 
use  of  tobacco,  which  they  now  carried  home  with  them. 

They  were  gone ;  but  scarcely  had  they  left  the  shore,  when  a 
ship  despatched  by  Raleigh,  who  had  not  forgotten  them,  arrived 


28  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

with  all  possible  supplies,  but  which,  finding  the  colony  had  vanished, 
set  sail  again  homeward ;  and  scarcely  had  it  left  the  shore,  when 
Sir  Richard  Grenville  arrived  with  three  ships,  and  he,  too,  after 
vainly  searching  about  for  the  missing  colony,  departed,  leaving 
fifteen  men  on  Roanoke  to  keep  possession  for  the  English. 


.RALEIGH'S  SECOND  ATTEMPT  TO  COLONISE  VIRGINIA.          29 


CHAPTER  III. 

DISCOVERIES  CONTINUED. 

RALEIGH,  spite  of  the  ill-success  which  had  attended  his  eflbrts 
at  colonisation,  was  not  discouraged;  and  the  report  which  Hariot 
made  of  the  capabilities  and  resources  of  the  country  strengthened 
the  public  faith.  Profiting  by  adversity,  Raleigh  now  resolved  to 
attempt  an  agricultural  colony ;  to  send  out  families,  men  with  wives 
and  children,  so  that  the  emigrant  should  take  his  home,  as  it  were, 
with  him.  He  granted  a  charter  of  incorporation  for  the  settlement, 
and  established,  before  it  left  the  country,  a  municipal  government 
for  his  projected  city  of  Raleigh  ;  Captain  John  White  being  appointed 
governor.  The  emigrants  were  embarked  at  the  expense  of  Raleigh, 
Queen  Elizabeth  declining  to  aiford  any  aid.  Women  were  now 
among  them,  and  a  sufficiency  of  implements  of  husbandry  seemed 
to  give  promise  of  successful  industry.  They  arrived  at  Roanoke 
in  July,  expecting  to  find  the  fifteen  men  whom  Grenville  had  left 
there ;  but  the  fort  which  had  been  built  was  in  ruins,  the  houses 
were  deserted ;  wild  deer  were  feeding  amid  the  rank  vegetation 
of  the  gardens,  and  human  bones  lay  scattered  everywhere.  Spite  of 
all  these  melancholy  tokens,  the  new-comers  resolved  here  to  build 
their  city  of  Raleigh;  here  to  establish  the  seat  of  their  future 
government. 

Raleigh  was  again  unfortunate  in  his  choice  of  governor ;  Captain 
John  White  was  no  better  fitted  for  his  post  than  Sir  Richard  Lane 
had  been.  Aggressions  on  the  Indians  were  the  first  acts  of  the 
colonists.  The  mother  and  relatives  of  Manteo  welcomed  the  English 
with  the  utmost  cordiality,  but  spite  of  this,  a  party  of  English  seeing 
a  company  of  natives  sitting  by  their  fires  at  night,  and  fearing  lest 


30  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

they  might  be  be  enemies,  fell  upon  them,  and  after  killing  a  consi- 
derable number  discovered  that  they  were  their  friends.  Manteo, 
however,  remained  faithful,  and  by  command  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
received  Christian  baptism  and  the  rank  of  a  feudal  baron,  as  the 
Lord  of  Roanoke. 

It  was  soon  found  that  many  things  were  yet  needful  for  the 
comfort  of  the  emigrants,  and  the  governor  sailed  for  England  to 
obtain  them.  A  gloom  overspread  the  little  colony  as  the  ship  was 
ready  to  depart,  and  women  as  well  as  men  besought  of  him  to 
return  speedily  with  reinforcements  and  supplies.  At  this  moment 
he  would  have  remained  with  them,  and  shared  their  sufferings 
and  privations,  but  they  compelled  him  to  go.  Previous  to  his 
departure,  his  daughter,  Eleanor  Dare,  the  wife  of  one  of  the 
emigrants,  gave  birth  to  a  female  child,  the  first  offspring  of  English 
parents  born  in  America ;  the  child  was  called  Virginia  Dare. 

When  White  reached  England  he  found  the  whole  nation  absorbed 
by  the  threats  of  a  Spanish  invasion  ;  Raleigh,  Grenville,  and  Lane, 
Frobisher,  Drake,  and  Hawkins,  all  were  employed  in  devising 
measures  of  resistance.  It  was  twelve  months  before  Raleigh,  who 
had  to  depend  almost  entirely  upon  his  own  means,  was  able  to 
despatch  White  with  supplies ;  this  he  did  in  two  vessels.  White,  who 
wished  to  profit  by  his  voyage,  instead  of  at  once  returning  without 
loss  of  time  to  his  colony,  went  in  chase  of  Spanish  prizes,  until  at 
length  one  of  his  ships  was  overpowered,  boarded,  and  rifled,  and 
both  compelled  to  return  to  England.  This  delay  was  fatal.  The 
great  events  of  the  Spanish  Armada  took  place,  after  which  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh  found  himself  embarrassed  with  such  a  fearful  amount 
of  debt,  that  it  was  no  longer  in  his  power  to  attempt  the  coloni- 
sation of  Virginia ;  nor  was  it  until  the  following  year  that  White  was 
able  to  return,  and  then  also  through  the  noble  efforts  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  to  the  unhappy  colony  Roanoke.  Again  the  island  was 
a  desert.  An  inscription  on  the  bark  of  a  tree  indicated  Croatan ; 
but  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  danger  of  storms,  furnished  an 
excuse  to  White  for  not  going  thither.  What  was  the  fate  of  the 
colony  never  was  known.  It  has  been  conjectured  that  through  the 
friendship  of  Manteo  they  had  probably  escaped  to  Croatan;  per- 
haps had  been,  when  thus  cruelly  neglected  by  their  countrymen, 


(1590.)        EFFECTS  OF  THE  EFFORTS  OF  EALEIGH.  31 

received  into  a  friendly  tribe  of  Indians,  and  become  a  portion  of  the 
children  of  the  forest.  The  Indians  had,  at  a  later  day,  a  tradition 
of  this  kind,  and  it  has  been  thought  that  the  physical  character  of 
the  Hatteras  Indians  bore  out  the  tradition. 

The  kind-hearted  and  noble  Raleigh  did  not  soon  give  up  all  hopes 
of  his  little  colony.  Five  different  times  he  sent  out  at  his  own 
expense  to  seek  for  them,  but  in  vain.  The  mystery  which  veils 
the  fate  of  the  colonists  of  Roanoke  will  never  be  solved  in  this 
world.  "  Roanoke,"  says  Bancroft,  "  is  now  almost  uninhabited ;  the 
intrepid  pilot  and  the  hardy  wrecker,  rendered  bold  by  their  familiarity 
with  the  dangers  of  the  ocean,  and  unconscious  of  the  associations  by 
which  they  are  surrounded,  are  the  only  tenants  of  the  spot,  where  the 
inquisitive  stranger  may  still  discern  the  ruins  of  the  fort,  round 
which  the  cottages  of  the  new  settlement  were  erected." 

Speaking  of  Raleigh  and  his  many  and  rare  virtues,  Bancroft  adds — 
"  The  judgments  of  the  tribunal  of  the  Old  World  are  often  reversed  at 
the  bar  of  public  opinion  in  the  New.  The  family  of  the  chief  author 
of  early  colonisation  in  the  United  States  was  reduced  to  beggary  by 
the  government  of  England,  and  he  himself  finally  beheaded.  After 
a  lapse  of  nearly  two  centuries  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  by  a 
solemn  act  of  legislation,  revived  in  its  capital  the  CITY  OF  RALEIGH  ; 
and  thus  expressed  its  confidence  in  the  integrity,  and  a  grateful 
respect  for  the  memory,  of  the  extraordinary  man,  who  united  in  him- 
self as  many  kinds  of  glory  as  were  ever  combined  in  one  individual, 
and  whose  name  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  early  period  of 
American  history." 

The  fisheries  of  the  north  and  the  efforts  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
at  colonisation  had  trained  a  race  of  men  for  discovery.  One  of 
these,  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  determined  upon  sailing  direct  from 
England  to  America,  without  touching  at  the  Canaries  and  the  West 
Indies,  as  had  hitherto  been  the  custom;  and  with  the  aid  of  Raleigh 
he  "well  nigh  secured  to  New  England  the  honour  of  the  first 
permanent  English  colony."  He  sailed  in  a  small  vessel  directly 
across  the  ocean,  and  in  seven  weeks  reached  the  shore  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  not  finding  a  good  harbour  sailed  southward,  and  dis- 
covered and  landed  on  a  promontory  which  he  called  Cape  Cod, 
which  name  it  retains  to  this  day.  Sailing  thence,  and  still  pur- 


32  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

suing  the  coast,  he  discovered  various  islands,  one  of  which  he 
called  Elizabeth,  after  the  Queen,  and  another  Martha's  Vineyard. 
The  vegetation  was  rich ;  the  land  covered  with  magnificent  forests ; 
and  wild  fruits  and  flowers  burst  from  the  earth  in  unimagined  luxu- 
riance— the  eglantine,  the  thorn,  and  the  honeysuckle  ;  the  wild  pea, 
tansy,  and  young  sassafras  ;  strawberries,  raspberries,  and  vines.  In 
the  island  was  a  little  lake,  and  in  the  lake  a  rocky  islet,  and  here  the 
colonists  resolved  to  build  their  storehouse  and  fort,  the  nucleus  of 
the  first  New  England  colony.  The  natural  features  of  the  place, 
the  historian  tells  us,  remain  unchanged— the  island,  the  little  lake, 
and  the  islet  are  all  there ;  the  forests  are  gone,  while  the  flowers  and 
fruit  are  as  abundant  as  ever.  But  no  trace  remains  of  the  fort. 

Friendly  traflic  with  the  natives  of  the  mainland  soon  completed  a 
freight,  which  consisted  of  furs  and  sassafras,  and  Gosnold  was  about 
to  sail,  when  the  hearts  of  the  intending  colonists  failed  them ;  they 
dreaded  the  attack  of  Indians  and  the  want  of  necessary  supplies 
from  home.  All,  therefore,  re-embarked,  and  in  five  weeks  reached 
England. 

Goenold  and  his  companions  brought  home  such  favourable  reports 
of  the  country  and  the  shortness  of  the  voyage,  that  the  following 
year  a  company  of  Bristol  merchants  despatched  two  small  vessels, 
under  the  command  of  Martin  Pring,  for  the  purpose  of  exploring 
the  country  and  commencing  a  trade  with  the  natives.  They  carried 
out  with  them  trinkets  and  merchandise  suited  for  such  traffic,  and 
their  voyage  was  eminently  successful.  They  discovered  some  of  the 
principal  rivers  of  Maine,  and  examined  the  coast  of  Massachusetts 
as  far  south  as  Martha's  Vineyard.  The  whole  voyage  occupied  but 
six  months.  Pring  repeated  his  voyage  in  1606,  making  still  more 
accurate  surveys  of  the  country. 

English  enterprises  for  discovery  were  rapidly  continued.  An  expe- 
dition, promoted  by  the  Earl  of  Southampton  and  Lord  Arundel 
of  Wardour,  and  commanded  by  George  Weymouth,  having  explored 
the  coast  of  Labrador,  discovered  the  Penobscot  River.  It  left 
England  in  March,  and  in  six  weeks  reached  the  American  conti- 
nent near  Cape  Cod. 

"We  must,  however,  now  return  to  the  French  and  their  colonies, 
of  whom  we  have  lost  sight  for  some  time. 


(1598.)  NOVA  SCOTIA,  NEW  BRUNSWICK,  ACADIA.  33 

In  1598,  the  Marquis  de  la  Roche  received  a  commission  from 
Henry  IV.  to  found  a  French  empire  in  America.  But  his  enter- 
prise utterly  failed.  His  proposed  colonists  were  the  refuse  of 
the  jails ;  these  he  conveyed  to  the  desolate  Sable  Island,  on  the 
coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  where,  after  languishing  twelve  years,  they  were 
allowed  to  return,  and  their  offences  pardoned  in  consideration  of 
their  sufferings. 

Five  years  later,  in  1603,  a  company  of  merchants  of  Rouen  resolved 
to  attempt  a  scheme  of  colonisation,  and  Samuel  Champlain,  a 
man  "  marvellously  delighting  in  such  enterprises,"  was  placed  at 
its  bead.  He  proceeded  to  Canada,  carefully  studied  the  geography 
of  the  country  and  the  manners  of  the  Indians,  and  selected  Quebec 
as  a  commodious  situation  for  a  settlement,  near  the  place  where, 
in  1541,  Cartier  had  passed  the  winter  and  erected  a  fort.  Champ- 
lain  returned  to  France,  and  De  Monts,  an  able  patriot  and  an 
honest  Calvinist,  obtained  a  patent  from  the  French  government, 
which  conceded  to  him  the  sovereignty  of  Acadia  from  the  fortieth 
to  the  forty-sixth  degree  of  latitude,  that  is,  from  a  degree  south  of 
New  York  city  to  one  north  of  Montreal,  with  a  monopoly  of  the 
fur  trade,  control  and  govennent  of  the  soil,  and  freedom  of  religion 
for  the  Huguenots.  Wealth  and  honour  were  expected  from  the 
expedition.  He  set  sail  with  two  vessels  in  March  1604,  reached 
Nova  Scotia  in  May,  and  spent  the  summer  in  trading  with  the 
natives  and  examining  the  coasts  preparatory  to  a  settlement. 

The  early  colonists  seem  to  have  had  a  remarkable  preference 
for  islands  ;  accordingly  the  company  of  De  Monts  selected  an  island 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river  St.  Croix,  in  New  Brunswick ;  here  they 
passed  a  winter  of  intense  suffering,  and  in  the  spring  removed  to 
a  place  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  where  was  formed  the  first  permanent 
settlement  of  the  French  in  America,  three  years  before  a  cabin  had 
been  erected  in  Canada.  The  settlement  was  called  Port  Royal,  and 
the  whole  country,  including  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the 
neighbouring  islands,  received  the  name  of  Acadia. 

De  Monts  was  superseded  by  Pourtrincourt,  one  of  his  company. 
The  undertaking  now  assumed  a  religious  character.  The  pope  gave 
his  benediction  to  all  who  went  thither  to  evangelise  the  heathen  ; 
Marie  de  Medici  contributed  money,  and  the  Marchioness  de  Guerchc- 

2* 


34  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

ville  gave   her   support.      Jesuits  were  sent  over,   and  the   order 
itself  enriched  by  imposts  on  the  fishery  and  fur  trade. 

Jesuit  priests  commenced  the  conversion  of  the  natives  and  the 
exploration  of  the  country  at  the  same  time.  The  Indians  of  the 
Canadian  territory,  affected  by  the  confiding  humanity  of  the  French 
priests,  listened  reverently  to  their  teachings  of  salvation.  A  French 
colony  within  the  United  States  was  soon  established,  under  the 
safeguard  of  religion.  "  The  conversion  of  the  heathen,"  says  Ban- 
croft, "  was  the  motive  of  the  settlement ;  the  natives  venerated  the 
Jesuit  Biart  as  a  messenger  from  heaven,  and  beneath  the  summer 
sky,  round  a  cross  in  the  centre  of  the  hamlet,  matins  and  vespers 
were  regularly  chanted.  France  and  the  Roman  religion  had  appro- 
priated the  soil  of  Maine." 

In  1608,  the  company  of  merchants  of  Dieppe  and  St.  Malo,  who 
had  been  instrumental  in  depriving  De  Monts  of  his  monopoly, 
founded  Quebec,  the  whole  undertaking,  nevertheless,  originating 
with  Samuel  Champlain,  in  concert  with  De  Monts.  Brick  cottages 
were  built,  a  few  fields  cleared,  a  few  gardens  laid  out ;  the  city  of 
Quebec  was  begun.  The  following  year,  Champlain,  attended  by 
his  two  Europeans,  joined  an  expedition  of  Indians  against  the 
Iroquois,  and  advanced  as  far  into  the  interior  as  the  lake  which 
bears  his  name. 

Seven  years  later,  he  once  more  advanced  against  his  old  enemies, 
the  Iroquois.  Wounded  and  alone,  he  spent  a  winter  with  the 
Hurons,  and  thus  "  a  knight-errant  in  the  forest,  he  carried  his  lan- 
guage, religion,  and  influence  even  to  the  hamlets  of  Algonquins  near 
Lake  Nipissing." 

The  presence  of  Jesuits  and  Calvinists  led  to  contentions ;  reli- 
gious animosity  and  commercial  jealousy  checked  for  a  time  the  pro- 
gress of  the  colony ;  nevertheless,  the  wisdom  and  good  conduct  of 
Champlain  established  successfully  the  dominion  of  the  French  on  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  He  lies  buried  in  the  land  which  he 
colonised. 

About  the  same  time  that  the  French  adventurer  Champlain  advanced 
inland  to  the  lake  which  since  then  has  borne  his  name,  another  dis- 
coverer, the  celebrated  Henry  Hudson,  was  penetrating  in  the  same 
direction  from  an  opposite  point.  The  great  field  for  commercial 


(1607.)  EXPEDITIONS   COMMANDED   BY  HENRY   HUDSON.  35 

enterprise  which  had  been  opened  by  traffic  with  the  East,  and  the 
immense  profits  thence  accruing,  still  kept  alive  the  hope  of  a 
nearer  passage  than  that  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Almost  every 
maritime  power  of  Europe  had  sent  out  ships  in  the  vain  hope  of  dis- 
covery, and  so  persevering  was  the  quest,  that  no  sooner  was  one 
failure  recorded,  than  another  expedition  set  forth. 

It  was  on  the  failure  of  Denmark  in  this  respect  that  a  company 
of -London  merchants  contributed  a  large  sum  of  money  for  another 
attempt,  under  the  command  of  Henry  Hudson.  Sailing  to  the  north, 
with  his  only  son  as  his  companion,  he  deliberated,  while  coast- 
ing Greenland,  as  to  whether  he  should  circumnavigate  that  country 
or  attempt  to  cross  the  pole ;  he  discovered  Spitzbergen,  however, 
and  was  then  compelled  to  return,  from  the  immense  icebergs  which 
he  encountered.  The  next  year  found  him  again  amid  the  horrors 
of  the  polar  seas,  cherishing  the  vain  hope  of  advancing  across  the 
pole  into  the  warm,  genial  regions  of  southern  Asia. 

These  two  unsuccessful  expeditions,  though  they  could  not  daunt 
the  courage  of  this  bold  navigator,  quite  discouraged  the  rich  London 
merchants,  and  Hudson,  who  seems  to  have  had  a  passion  for  the 
northern  seas,  hastened  to  Holland  and  offered  his  services  to  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company,  to  explore  for  them  this  much-desired 
passage.  Hudson  had  applied  in  the  right  quarter;  the  Dutch  at 
that  time  took  rank  as  one  of  the  most  maritime  and  commercial 
nations  of  Europe.  Commerce  was  the  breath  of  their  lives,  maritime 
adventure  their  occupation.  The  device  on  the  first  Dutch  coin  was 
a  ship  labouring  on  a  stormy  sea,  without  oar  or  sails.  Speaking 
of  the  Republic  of  the  United  Netherlands,  the  historian  Bancroft 
says,  "  the  rendezvous  of  its  martyrs  had  been  the  sea ;  the  musters 
of  its  patriot  emigrants  had  been  on  shipboard;  they  had  hunted 
their  enemy,  as  the  whale-ships  pursue  their  game,  in  every  corner  of 
the  ocean."  Holland  is  but  a  peninsula,  intersected  by  navigable 
rivers,  protruding  itself  into  the  sea.  And  Zealand  is  composed  of 
islands.  Its  inhabitants  were  nearly  all  fishermen;  both  pro- 
vinces were  by  nature  a  nursery  of  sailors ;  the  principles  of  naviga- 
tion were  imbibed  from  infancy;  every  house  was  a  school  for 
mariners.  They  became  affluent  through  commerce.  They  were 
the  connecting  links  between  hemispheres.  Their  enterprising  sea- 


36  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

men  displayed  the  flag  of  the  republic  from  Southern  Africa  to  the 
Arctic  circle.  The  ships  of  the  Dutch,  said  Raleigh,  outnumber 
those  of  England  and  the  other  kingdoms.  Amsterdam,  the  depot  of 
the  merchandise  of  Europe  and  of  the  East,  was  esteemed,  beyond 
dispute,  the  first  commercial  city  of  the  world. 

England  and  Holland  had  been  allies  in  the  contest  with  Spain ; 
both  had  sent  their  ships  to  the  Indian  seas;  they  were  both 
desirous  of  obtaining  settlements  in  America.  The  Dutch,  like  all 
other  nations  connected  either  with  the  commerce  of  Asia  or  inquisi- 
tive with  regard  to  America,  turned  their  efforts  to  the  discovery  of 
a  north-west  passage.  The  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the  English 
mariners,  Cabot,  Frobisher,  Willoughby,  and  others,  mattered 
nothing  to  them ;  with  that  perseverance  which,  if  it  attain  not  to 
its  object,  generally  wins  some  unlooked-for  good,  they,  too,  had 
sought  repeatedly  for  the  north-west  passage,  coasting  for  this  pur- 
pose Nova  Zembla  and  Muscovy.  In  1596,  one  of  their  ships  in 
this  quest  advanced  within  ten  degrees  of  the  pole;  during  the 
winter,  when  it  was  frozen  in,  on  the  shores  of  Nova  Zembla,  the 
sufferings  of  the  unfortunate  crew  have  hardly  their  parallel  in  any 
narrative  of  human  endurance,  misery,  and  terror  at  sea. 

Hudson  had,  as  we  have  said,  offered  his  services  in  the  right  quar- 
ter. A  vessel  of  discovery,  called  the  Crescent,  was  soon  equipped 
for  him,  and  on  the  4th  of  April,  1609,  he  set  sail  in  search  of  the 
north-western  passage,  accompanied  again  by  his  son. 

Masses  of  ice  prevented  his  sailing  toward  Nova  Zembla ;  turning 
to  the  south-west,  therefore,  and  passing  Greenland  and  Newfound- 
land, he  ran  along  the  coast  of  Acadia,  and  entered  Penobscot 
Bay,  on  the  southern  coast  of  Maine,  and  so  on  southward  to 
Cape  Cod,  which,  supposing  himself  to  have  first  discovered,  he 
called  New  Holland,  and  still  sailing  southward,  reached  the 
entrance  of  Chesapeake  Bay,  where  he  remembered  that  his  country- 
men had  a  settlement.  From  this  point  he  again  turned  northward, 
having  discovered  Delaware  Bay;  on  the  3rd  of  September,  about 
five  months  from  the  time  of  his  setting  sail,  he  anchored  within 
Sandy  Hook;  the  natives  being  attracted  to  the  ship  from  the 
neighbouring  shores,  which  he  described  as  crowned  with  "  goodly 
oaks."  After  tarrying  here  a  week,  Hudson  advanced  up  the  Nar- 


(1609.)  HEROISM  AND  DEATH  OP  HUDSON.  37 

rows,  and  anchored  in  a  safe  harbour  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
Every  object  around  was  worthy  of  admiration — the  luxuriant 
grass,  the  trees,  the  flowers,  and  the  fragrance  which  was  diffused 
over  all.  For  ten  days  the  Crescent,  the  wonder  of  the  Indians  who 
congregated  on  the  shore  to  witness  the  marvellous  apparition  and 
to  welcome  the  strangers,  ascended  the  river  above  the  highlands, 
and  some  little  distance  beyond  where  the  city  of  Hudson  now 
stands,  and  whence  he  took  a  boat  forward  as  far  as  the  present  city 
of  Albany.  He  descended  the  stream  rapidly,  and  on  the  4th  of 
October,  set  sail  for  Europe,  "  leaving,"  says  the  eloquent  historian, 
"  once  more  to  its  solitude  the  land  that  his  imagination,  anticipating 
the  future,  described  as  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world." 

A  prosperous  voyage  returned  Hudson  to  Europe.  He  landed 
at  Dartmouth,  and  sent  a  splendid  report  of  his  discoveries  to  his 
Dutch  employers  ;  but  he  never  revisited  the  country  which  he 
so  much  praised,  nor  the  river  to  which  time  has  now  given  his 
name.  The  Dutch  East  India  Company  declined,  as  he  had  failed 
to  discover  the  north-western  passage,  to  employ  him  further. 

The  following  spring,  however,  an  English  company  was  formed, 
and  Hudson  was  again  abroad  in  search  of  a  passage  to  the  Pacific. 
He  sailed  directly  north,  passing  Iceland,  and  Greenland,  and 
Frobisher  Straits,  and  advancing  through  the  straits  that  now  bear 
his  name,  and  through  which  Cabot  had  entered  a  century  before, 
emerged  into  an  immense  gulf,  which  he  joyfully  believed  for  some 
time  to  be  the  object  of  his  search.  He  was  naturally  very  unwil- 
ling to  believe  it  a  bay.  Backwards  and  forwards  he  sailed ;  still 
hoping  for  success,  and  determining  at  all  hazards  to  winter  there, 
that  he  might  be  ready  in  the  spring  to  pursue  the  important  dis- 
covery. A  horrible  winter  succeeded ;  the  spring  was  late ;  famine 
stared  him  in  the  face  ;  Hudson  divided  the  last  bread  with  his  men, 
and  wept  as  he  gave  it  them,  having  consented  to  return.  He 
believed  that  he  was  now  on  the  point  of  success — of  success,  where 
all  other  nations  had  failed.  With  a  heavy  heart  he  commenced 
his  homeward  voyage,  on  June  the  18th,  yet  still  amid  fields  of  ice. 
Two  days  afterwards  the  crew  broke  forth  into  mutiny;  Hudson  was 
seized,  and,  with  his  son,  and  seven  others,  four  of  whom  were  sick, 
was  put  in  an  open  boat  and  turned  adrift.  Hudson,  it  is  said  by 


38  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

some,  was  a  severe  commander,  and  that  his  stern  and  pitiless  temper 
provoked  his  crew  to  mutiny ;  one  little  circumstance,  however,  which 
is  related  of  this  tragical  event,  seems  to  contradict  the  assertions, 
and  we  are  willing  to  helieve  its  inference.  The  ship's  carpenter, 
Phib'p  Staffe — his  name  deserves  to  he  rememhered — seeing  his 
commander  thus  exposed,  insisted  upon  sharing  his  fate.  It  was 
on  Midsummer-day,  and  in  a  latitude  where  the  sun  at  that  season 
scarcely  sets,  and  morning  and  night  meet  in  the  heavens,  that 
this  infamous  deed  was  perpetrated.  The  fate  of  Hudson  and 
his  companions  never  was  known.  But  his  name  and  his  memory 
are  preserved  in  those  dreary  polar  waters,  which,  seeming  to  have 
had  a  wonderful  fascination  for  him  in  life,  hecame  in  death  his 
tomb. 

"  Such,"  says  Bancroft,  "  were  the  men  and  the  voyages  which 
led  the  way  to  the  colonisation  of  the  United  States.  The  daring  and 
skill  of  these  earliest  adventurers  on  the  ocean  deserve  the  highest 
admiration.  The  difficulties  of  crossing  the  Atlantic  were  new  ;  the 
characters  of  the  prevalent  winds  and  currents  were  unknown.  The 
possibility  of  making  a  direct  passage  was  but  gradually  discovered. 
The  ships  at  first  employed  for  discovery  were  generally  of  less 
than  one  hundred  tons  burden.  Frobisher  sailed  in  a  vessel  of  but 
twenty-five  tons;  two  of  those  of  Columbus  were  without  decks; 
and  so  perilous  were  voyages  considered,  that  the  sailors  were 
accustomed,  before  embarking,  to  perform  acts  of  solemn  devotion." 


(1603.)  NEW  SPIEIT   OP  COLONISATION.  39 


CHAPTER  IV. 

COLONISATION  OF  VIRGINIA. 

AT  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century  a  considerable 
revolution  had  taken  place  in  the  objects  of  American  enterprise  and 
discovery.  As  the  greatness  and  the  immense  resources  of  the  new 
world  opened  before  the  European  mind,  the  grasp  of  mind  itself 
and  of  human  interests  widened  in  proportion.  The  vain  hope  of 
the  new  passage  to  the  East  Indies,  which  prompted  Columbus  and 
others  to  sail  first  westward,  was  now  becoming  a  secondary  motive. 
To  this  had  succeeded  the  desire  for  the  acquisition  of  gold,  a  rabid 
appetite,  whether  a  more  bitter  curse  to  the  aborigines  or  the  Euro- 
pean it  is  hard  to  say ;  the  islands  and  equatorial  regions  had  also 
ministered  to  the  luxury  and  indulgence  of  the  conqueror  by  all  their 
affluence  of  tropical  productions.  Selfishness  and  aggrandisement 
had  prevailed ;  but  gradually,  as  morning  will  succeed  to  night,  a 
nobler  and  better  purpose  had  begun  to  operate,  and  these  new-found 
realms  were  regarded  as  a  wide  field  on  which  to  found  states  and 
establish  Christian  colonies;  they  had  already  become  the  refuge  of 
the  oppressed,  they  might  be  still  more  so :  they  had  already  given 
an  impulse  to  commercial  enterprise,  they  would  do  so  still  more, 

England,  of  all  European  nations,  was  perhaps  most  fitted  to  profit 
by  this  enlarged  sphere  of  operation.  She  had  even  then,  apparently, 
an  excess  of  population,  and  "  the  timid  character  of  king  James 
having  thrown  out  of  employment  the  gallant  men  who  had  served 
under  Elizabeth,  both  by  sea  and  land,  no  other  choice  was  left  to 
them  but  either  to  engage  in  the  quarrels  of  other  nations,  or  incur 
the  hazards  of  seeking  a  new  world."  The  expeditions  sent  out  by 
the  intelligence  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  had  turned  the  public  mind 


40  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

to  Virginia.  Gosnold,  a  bold  seaman,  whose  ship  first  sailed  directly 
across  the  Atlantic,  and  who  entertained  the  highest  opinion  of  the 
capabilities  of  the  New  World  for  colonisation,  had  long  endeavoured 
to  persuade  his  Mends  to  make  trial  of  it  for  that  purpose.  Schemes 
of  this  kind  were  revolving  in  the  minds  of  various  people  at  the 
same  time.  Sir  Ferdinand  Gorges,  who  had  learned  much  regarding 
America  from  George  Weymouth,  entertained  the  most  favourable 
ideas  on  the  subject;  Sir  John  Popham,  the  lord  chief-justice  of 
England ;  the  assignees  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  and  Richard  Hakluyt, 
the  historian  of  maritime  adventure,  all  favoured  the  establishment  of 
a  colony  in  the  New  World. 

Gosnold  at  length  induced  three  persons  to  engage  with  him  in  the 
enterprise,  Edward  Maria  Wingfield,  a  merchant  of  the  west  of 
England,  Robert  Hunt,  a  clergyman,  and  the  brave  and  energetic 
John  Smith,  a  man  of  singular  perseverance,  indomitable  courage, 
and  possessed  of  every  quality  necessary  for  the  successful  adventurer. 
These,  assisted  by  the  influence  of  Popham  and  Gorges,  succeeded,  in 
1606,  in  obtaining  from  James  I.  a  patent  for  the  establishment  of  a 
colony  in  Virginia. 

The  English  monarch  claimed  the  whole  of  that  portion  of  North 
America  lying  between  the  34th  and  45th  degrees  of  north  latitude, 
from  Cape  Fear  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina  to  Halifax  in  Nova 
Scotia.  This  territory  was  now  divided  into  two  portions,  North 
Virginia,  extending  from  the  41st  to  the  45th  degree,  and  South 
Virginia,  from  the  34th  to  the  38th  degree. 

The  first  was  granted  to  a  company  of  "knights,  gentlemen 
and  merchants  of  the  west  of  England,  incorporated  as  the  Plymouth 
Company ; "  the  second  to  a  company  of  "  noblemen,  gentlemen  and 
merchants,  mostly  resident  in  London,"  and  which  was  called  the 
London  Company.  The  intermediate  district,  included  in  neither 
patent,  was  open  to  both  companies,  yet  neither  were  permitted  to 
extend  their  settlement  within  a  hundred  miles  of  the  other. 

The  conditions  of  the  charter  were  homage  and  rent,  the  rent  being 
one-fifth  of  the  net  produce  of  gold  and  silver,  and  of  copper  one- 
fifteenth.  The  supreme  government  was  vested  in  a  council  residing 
in  England ;  local  government  alone  was  permitted  to  the  colonists 
themselves.  The  members  of  the  supreme  council  were  nominated 


(1606.)  CHARTER  OP  THE  PLYMOUTH  AND  LONDON  COMPANIES.     41 

by  the  king,  and  even  over  the  colonial  councils  the  king  preserved  a 
control,  being  able  to  nominate  and  remove  according  to  his  royal 
pleasure.  In  all  respects  the  king  was  the  supreme  head ;  the  legisla- 
tive and  executive  power  lay  in  his  hands ;  the  colonists  had  no  power 
of  self-government.  This  first  charter  granted  to  an  English- 
American  colony  was  merely  a  simple  charter  for  commercial  pur- 
poses. The  English  government  cherished  through  the  whole  scheme 
the  hope  of  a  considerable  revenue  from  its  colonies  in  Virginia ;  a 
duty  to  be  levied  on  vessels  trading  to  the  harbours  was  to  be  applied 
to  the  use  of  the  colony  for  one  and  twenty  years,  after  which  time  it 
should  lapse  to  the  king.  The  code  of  laws  also  for  the  colony  was 
drawn  up  by  the  king ;  religion  was  strictly  enjoined  to  be  according 
to  the  teachings  of  the  English  church ;  no  emigrant  might  withdraw 
his  allegiance  from  the  king  nor  dissent  from  the  royal  creed.  Dan- 
gerous tumults  and  seditions  were  punishable  by  death,  as  well  as 
murder,  manslaughter,  and  adultery.  All  civil  causes  involving 
corporal  publishment,  fine  or  imprisonment,  were  to  be  determined 
by  the  president  and  council,  who  were  appointed  by  the  king. 
There  was  not  an  element  of  popular  liberty  in  the  whole  stipulated 
form  of  government.  It  was,  however,  worthy  of  the  peddling, 
narrow  policy  and  kingcraft  of  the  British  Solomon.  The  only 
clement  of  enlightenment  which  it  contained  was  the  injunction  of 
kindness  to  the  savage,  and  the  employment  of  all  proper  means  for 
his  conversion. 

The  Plymouth  company,  on  receiving  their  grant,  despatched  a 
vessel  of  discovery,  which,  however,  was  taken  by  the  Spaniards.  A 
second  went  out,  and  returning,  made  the  most  favourable  report  of 
the  country ;  the  following  year,  therefore,  1607,  a  hundred  colonists 
were  despatched  under  the  command  of  George  Popharn.  They 
landed  at  the  mouth  of  Kennebec  River,  west  of  the  Penobscot,  and 
about  one  hundred  and  thirty  miles  north-east  of  where  Boston  now 
stands.  Here  they  erected  a  few  rude  huts,  threw  up  slight  fortifi- 
cations, and  built  a  storehouse.  The  settlement  was  called  St. 
George.  They  had  landed  in  the  autumn,  and  the  winter  was 
intensely  severe ;  their  sufferings  were  extreme,  not  only  from  the 
severity  of  the  climate  and  the  season,  but  from  want  of  provisions, 
their  storehouse  having  been  destroyed  by  fire.  Their  president  also 


42  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

died;  and  iu  the  following  year,  disheartened  by  so  disastrous  a 
beginning,  they  returned  to  England.  This  terminated  the  efforts  of 
the  Plymouth  company. 

The  London  company  despatched  a  little  squadron  of  three  ships, 
on  the  19th  of  December,  1606,  one  hundred  and  nine  years  after  the 
discovery  of  this  northern  portion  of  the  New  World  by  Cabot.  The 
largest  vessel  did  not  exceed  one  hundred  tons  burden ;  and  the 
number  of  colonists  was  one  hundred  and  five  men.  England  was  as 
yet  new  to  the  subject  of  colonisation,  and  the  party  sent  out  were 
injudiciously  selected ;  out  of  the  hundred  and  five  persons  emigrating 
to  a  wilderness  where  were  no  homes  and  no  cultivated  land,  there 
were  only  twelve  labourers,  very  few  mechanics,  and  only  four  car- 
penters, the  rest  were  gentlemen  of  fortune,  persons  with  no  occupa- 
tion, many  of  them  of  dissolute  habits,  who  had  joined  the  expedition 
in  the  hope  of  gain.  Neither  were  there  any  men  with  families.  King 
James  had  also  commanded  the  names  and  instructions  of  the  future 
councillors  of  the  government  to  be  sealed  up  in  a  tin  box,  to  be 
opened  only  on  their  arrival  in  Virginia;  none,  therefore,  on  the 
voyage  were  possessed  of  authority — envy  and  jealousy  arose  among 
them, which  produced  dissension.  Besides  this,  the  voyage  was  long 
and  tedious,  owing  to  Newport,  the  commander,  adhering  to  the  old 
route  by  the  Canaries  and  West  India  islands.  The  voyage  was  as 
long  as  a  slow  voyage  to  Australia  in  these  days.  The  intention  of 
the  colonists  had  been  to  establish  themselves  at  the  old  settlement 
of  Raleigh,  but  a  severe  storm  fortunately  prevented  the  execution  of 
this  design,  and  drove  them  into  the  magnificent  Bay  of  Chesapeake. 
The  headlands  at  the  entrance  of  the  bay  were  named  Cape  Henry 
and  Cape  Charles,  after  the  sons  of  the  king,  which  appellation  they 
still  retain ;  and  the  ships  soon  afterwards  coming  into  deep  water 
"put  the  emigrants,"  says  Smith's  narrative,  "into  good  comfort," 
and  that  name  was  bestowed  on  the  northern  point  of  a  broad 
river  near  the  estuary  of  which  they  lay.  The  emigrants  were 
greatly  pleased  by  the  aspect  of  the  country  around  them.  "  Heaven 
and  earth,"  says  Smith,  '•  seemed  never  to  have  agreed  better  to  frame 
a  place  for  man's  commodious  and  delightful  habitation."  They 
entered  the  noble  river,  which  they  called  after  King  James,  and 
spent  seventeen  days  in  exploring  the  banks,  during  which  time  they 


(1607.)  JAMESTOWN  THE  FIRST  PERMANENT  ENGLISH  SETTLEMENT.  43 

encountered  a  company  of  hostile  natives,  and  two  of  their  number 
were  wounded.  With  another  tribe  of  Indians  they  smoked  the 
calumet  of  peace.  A  fine  situation,  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the 
river,  was  selected  for  their  settlement,  the  place  receiving  the  name 
of  Jamestown.  Here  was  formed  the  first  permanent  English  settle- 
ment in  the  New  World. 

The  important  sealed-box  was  opened,  and  the  names  of  Wingfield, 
Newport,  Gosnold,  Smith,  and  three  others,  were  found  nominated  to 
the  council.  But  the  dissensions  and  jealousies  which  had  broken 
out  on  the  voyage  here  assumed  a  more  determined  aspect.  Smith, 
almost  the  only  man  amongst  them  of  superior  character  and  powers 
of  mind,  had  become  an  object  of  jealousy  to  his  fellows,  and  the 
council  having  elected  Wingfield  as  their  president,  proceeded  to 
exclude  Smith  from  their  council,  under  pretence  of  his  harbouring  a 
design  to  murder  the  council,  and  establish  himself  as  king  of 
Virginia.  Smith,  however,  who  had  a  sincere  friend  in  Robert  Hunt, 
the  clergyman,  insisted  on  trial  by  jury,  which  he  had  a  right  to 
demand,  and  was  not  only  acquitted,  but  restored  to  his  station. 

Whilst  timber  was  being  felled,  wherewith  to  freight  the  ships  for 
their  homeward  voyage,  Newport,  Smith,  and  some  others,  ascended 
the  river  to  the  falls,  and  were  well  received  by  Powhatan,  the  great 
Indian  chieftain,  called  "  the  emperor  of  the  country,"  whose  residence, 
a  village  of  twelve  wigwams,  was  near  the  present  city  of  Richmond, 
the  capital  of  the  present  State  of  Virginia.  Powhatan,  "a  tall, 
sour,  and  athletic  man,  about  sixty  years  old,"  was  from  the  first 
disposed  to  favour  the  English.  When  his  people  murmured  at  the 
intrusion  of  the  strangers,  he  replied,  "they  hurt  you  notj  they 
take  but  a  little  waste  land."  Powhatan  evidently  did  not  possess 
the  prophetic  gift  of  the  wise  Indians  who,  twenty  years  before,  on  the 
very  same  shores,  foretold  that  "  there  were  more  of  the  English 
generation  yet  to  come,  to  kill  theirs  and  take  their  places ! " 

Newport  set  sail  for  England  in  June,  carrying  with  him  a 
favourable  report ;  but  scarcely  was  he  gone,  when  a  change  came  over 
the  aspect  of  all  things.  Disease  broke  out  among  the  settlers ;  their 
provisions  were  not  abundant,  the  water  was  bad:  the  glorious 
country  around  them,  in  the  beauty  of  which  they  had  at  first 
rejoiced,  became  an  appalling  wilderness;  the  rank  luxuriance  of  the 


44  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

soil  needed  clearance  before  new  harvests  could  be  expected,  but  the 
colonists  "were  unused  to  and  disinclined  for  labour  ;  discontent  gave 
place  to  despair;  distress  of  mind  added  to  disease  of  body,  and 
within  a  fortnight  after  the  departure  of  the  ships,  it  is  related  that 
scarcely  ten  men  out  of  the  whole  number  were  able  to  stand ;  the 
fortifications  could  scarcely  be  completed,  and  no  ground  tilled.  The 
fort  by  autumn  was  filled  with  the  groans  of  the  sick,  whose  outcries 
night  and  day  for  six  weeks  rent  the  hearts  of  those  who  could  afford 
no  relief.  Frequently  three  or  four  died  in  a  night.  Fifty  had 
perished  before  the  close  of  the  autumn,  and  among  these  the  brave 
and  excellent  Bartholomew  Gosnold,  the  projector  of  the  enterprise, 
and  one  of  the  few  whose  influence  had  preserved  some  degree  of 
concord  in  the  council. 

To  add  to  the  misery  of  the  time,  Wingfield,  their  president,  a 
selfish,  unprincipled  man,  was  found  to  have  appropriated  the  best 
stores  to  his  own  use,  himself  living  luxuriously,  whilst  the  others 
were  starving.  On  his  detection,  he  attempted  to  escape  to  the  West 
Indies,  in  a  bark  which  had  been  left  for  the  use  of  the  colonists,  but 
was  prevented  and  expelled  from  the  council.  A  new  president  was 
appointed,  but  one  wholly  inadequate  to  the  exigencies  of  the  colony, 
and  by  a  sort  of  law  of  necessity,  rather  than  by  general  consent,  the 
management  of  all  fell  into  the  hands  of  Smith,  the  only  man  whose 
wisdom  and  energy  were  sufficient  to  retrieve  their  desperate  affairs. 

Smith  was  possessed  of  a  spirit  of  heroic  daring.  He  had  set  out 
on  brave  adventures  when  a  boy,  and  though  not  yet  thirty,  had 
been  a  champion  in  the  service  of  humanity  and  Christianity.  In 
his  youth  he  had  fought  for  the  independence  of  the  Batavian 
republic,  in  the  wars  of  the  Low  Countries.  He  had  travelled 
through  France,  had  visited  Egypt,  and  returned  by  Italy.  Again, 
eager  for  action  and  glory,  he  had  fought  against  the  followers  of 
Mahomet  on  the  borders  of  Hungary,  and  during  these  combats  had 
distinguished  nimself,  both  with  the  Christians  and  infidels,  by  his 
magnanimity  and  bravery.  His  extraordinary  courage  had  attracted 
the  notice  and  gained  for  him  the  favour  of  the  unfortunate  Sigis- 
mund  Bathori,  Prince  of  Transylvania.  At  length,  being  overcome 
in  a  sudden  skirmish  among  the  wild  valleys  of  Wallachia,  he  was 
left  on  the  field  of  battle  severely  wounded.  Being  now  taken 


(1607.)        EXTRAORDINARY  ADVENTURES  OF  SMITH.  45 

captive  he  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  Constantinople.  But  here  his 
romantic  fortune  by  no  means  deserted  him.  A  Turkish  lady  had 
compassion  on  his  youth  and  sufferings,  and  wishing  to  befriend  him 
sent  him  to  a  fortress  in  the  Crimea.  The  intentions  of  his  protec- 
tress were,  however,  defeated  for  some  time  ;  he  fell  into  the  hands 
of  a  savage  taskmaster,  whom  however  he  killed,  and  then  seizing  a 
horse,  gallopped  away  to  freedom  on  the  confines  of  Russia.  Here 
again,  the  kindness  of  woman  aided  him  in  his  extreme  need ;  and 
thence,  travelling  across  the  country  to  Transylvania,  he  bade  fare- 
well to  his  brothers  in  arms,  resolving  to  return  "  to  his  own 
country."  On  his  way  home,  however,  tidings  of  civil  war  in 
northern  Africa  drew  his  steps  aside,  and  he  had  many  a  perilous 
adventure  in  the  realms  of  Morocco. 

Reaching  England,  he  heard  of  the  projected  colonisation  of 'North 
America,  a  scheme  so  entirely  consonant  with  his  nature,  that  he 
entered  into  it  at  once,  with  all  the  energy  and  enthusiasm  of  his 
character.  And  now  here  he  was,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  autumn  of 
1607,  the  sole  hope  and  support  of  the  infant  colony  of  Virginia, 
which,  without  his  integrity  and  force  of  character,  his  cheerful  tem- 
perament and  sagacity,  must  have  miserably  perished. 

Smith  was  equal  to  the  difficulties  of  his  position;  his  was  a  mind 
fruitful  in  resources,  and  his  high  principle  rendered  him  not  only 
strict  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  own  arduous  duties,  but  enabled  him  to 
enforce  the  fulfilment  of  duty  in  others.  Under  the  former  governors 
the  natives  had  become  unfriendly,  he,  on  the  contrary,  conciliated 
them ;  "  he  was  more  anxious,"  says  the  record  of  the  colony,  "  to 
gather  provisions  than  to  find  gold ; "  and  before  the  winter  com- 
menced, the  Indians  brought  in  voluntary  supplies.  The  colonists 
also,  influenced  by  his  spirit,  now  laboured  earnestly  to  complete 
their  fortifications  and  erect  huts  for  the  winter. 

As  soon  as  the  new  spirit  of  activity  and  hope  had  given  a  brighter 
aspect  to  the  affairs  of  the  colony,  Smith  set  out  to  accomplish  one  of 
the  strictly-enjoined  purposes  of  the  colonists ;  that,  namely,  of  seeking 
for  a  communication  with  the  South  Sea,  by  ascending  some  rivei 
which  flowed  from  the  north-west.  A  little  above  Jamestown,  a 
river  called  Chickahominy,  and  which  flowed  into  the  James  river, 
seemed  to  answer  this  purpose,  it  being  supposed  that  the  con- 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tinent  of  America  was  narrow,  and  that  some  river  unques- 
tionably would  be  found  to  serve  as  a  connexion  between  the 
two  seas.  Smith,  who  was  not  as  ignorant  as  his  employers,  and 
who  entertained  no  expectation  of  reaching  the  Pacific  Ocean  by  any 
such  means,  nevertheless  was  well  pleased,  having  left  the  colony  in 
a  comparative  state  of  comfort  and  prosperity,  with  abundant  provi- 
sions for  the  winter,  to  diversify  his  life  by  new  adventures. 
Advancing  therefore  up  the  river  Chickahominy,  accompanied  by  two 
Englishmen  and  two  Indian  guides,  as  far  as  was  practicable  by 
boat,  he  struck  into  the  interior  with  a  single  Indian  guide,  leaving 
the  boat  under  the  guardianship  of  the  two  Englishmen.  Scarcely, 
however,  had  he  set  forth  when  the  English,  disregarding  some  of 
his  injunctions,  were  attacked  and  killed  by  the  Indians,  and  he  him- 
self suddenly  assailed  by  a  large  party.  Binding  his  Indian  guide  to 
his  arm  as  a  buckler,  he  fought  manfully,  killing  three  of  his  assail- 
ants ;  unfortunately,  however,  in  stepping  backwards,  he  found 
himself  on  the  edge  of  a  morass ;  his  feet  sank,  and  he  was  taken 
prisoner.  Accustomed  to  the  views  and  sentiments  of  savage  hordes 
in  his  captivity  in  southern  .Russia,  he  now  availed  himself  of  that 
knowledge,  and  acted  in  accordance  with  it.  He  neither  begged  for 
his  life  from  the  Indians,  nor  appeared  cast  down.  They  carried  him 
away  captive,  but  his  self-possession  never  forsook  him ;  marching 
through  the  forest  he  took  out  his  pocket-compass  and  explained  to 
them  its  use,  and  then  from  the  globe-like  figure  of  that  instrument, 
as  he  himself  relates,  instructed  them  regarding  the  roundness  of  the 
earth,  and  how  "  the  sun  did  chase  the  night  about  the  earth  con- 
tinually." His  captivity  among  this  tribe  of  Indians  was  a  more 
wonderful  and  interesting  event  than  any  other  preserved  in  their 
traditions.  He  wrote  to  the  colony  at  Jamestown,  and  his  letter 
increased  the  wonder  of  the  savages  at  the  miraculous  power  which 
existed  within  him ;  he  seemed  to  them  to  convey  a  magical  intelli- 
gence to  the  paper.  His  fame  spread  through  all  the  kindred  tribes, 
and  he  was  conveyed  as  an  object  of  curiosity  from  the  Indian 
settlements  on  the  CMckahominy,  to  those  on  the  Rappahannock  and 
the  Potomac,  and  so  on  to  the  residence  of  Opechancanough  at 
Pamunky.  Here,  for  three  days,  the  Indian  priests  or  sorcerers 
practised  incantations  and  mystical  ceremonies  to  ascertain  the 


(1607.)  THE    STORY   OF  POCAHONTAS.  47 

designs  and  character  of  their  extraordinary  prisoner.  He  remained 
perfectly  calm,  as  if  regardless  of  his  fate  or  assured  of  his  safety. 
The  Indians  were  amazed  and  confounded ;  they  had  never,  unless 
among  their  bravest  men,  seen  a  courage  and  equanimity  equal  to 
this  j  they  treated  him  with  hospitality  and  reverence,  as  if  to  pro- 
pitiate the  superior  powers  that  dwelt  within  him. 

The  decision  of  his  fate  was  referred  to  Powhatan,  then  residing  at 
some  little  distance,  and  thither  he  was  removed.  The  grim  war- 
riors of  the  forest,  arrayed  in  all  the  pomp  of  savage  attire,  received 
him  in  solemn  council.  They  deliberated  and  consulted  among  them- 
selves, and  feeling  him  to  be  a  superior,  as  well  as  overcome  by  their 
fears,  doomed  him  to  death.  His  execution,  however,  was  not  imme- 
diate, and  in  the  meantime  he  employed  himself  in  making  hatchets 
and  stringing  beads,  which  he  gave  to  Pocahontas,  the  daughter  of 
Powhatan,  a  girl  of  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  who  for  beauty  of 
countenance  and  spirit,  combined  with  gentleness,  so  far  excelled  all 
the  maidens  of  her  people  that  she  was  called  "  the  nonpareil  of  the 
country."  At  length  the  day  of  his  doom  wag  fixed ;  he  was  to  die 
by  the  blows  of  the  hatchet ;  the  hour  was  come ;  he  knelt  on  the 
place  of  execution,  and  already  the  uplifted  hatchet  was  raised,  but 
at  the  same  moment  Pocahontas,  obeying  an  impulse  of  mercy, 
sprang  to  his  side,  threw  her  arms  round  his  neck,  and  laying  her 
head  upon  his,  interposed  herself  between  him  and  death.  Her 
devotion  and  entreaties  spared  his  life.  The  Indians,  whom  his 
superiority  had  so  long  awed,  now  resolved  to  make  of  him  a  friend 
and  adopt  him  into  their  nation.  They  oifered  him  every  temptation 
which  lay  in  their  power  to  induce  him  to  join  them  in  attacking  the 
white  men  who  had  settled  at  Jamestown.  His  firmness  in  resisting 
their  offers  inspired  them  with  still  higher  respect,  and  they  dismissed 
him  with  promises  of  friendship.  His  captivity  was  of  great  advan- 
tage to  the  colony;  he  not  only  had  become  acquainted  with  the 
country  considerably  inland,  but  with  the  Indian  language  and 
character,  and  was  the  means  of  establishing  a  friendly  intercourse 
between  the  English  colony  and  the  tribes  of  Powhatan. 

Returned  to  the  colony,  he  found  its  numbers  reduced  to  forty, 
and  all  disheartened  and  disunited,  and  the  ablest  among  them  so 
•wearied  by  the  hardships  of  colonial  life  that  they  were  about  to 


48  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STxlTES. 

desert  in  the  pinnace.  Smith,  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  prevented 
this  ;  by  reason  and  firmness  he  once  more  established  order,  and  the 
wants  of  the  colony  were  relieved  by  the  generous  Pocahontas,  who 
not  satisfied  with  having  saved  the  great  chief  from  death,  came  now 
every  few  days  with  her  companions,  to  bring  baskets  of  corn  for 
him  and  his  people. 

Newport  was  re-despatched,  almost  immediately  on  his  return  to 
the  colony,  with  supplies  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  fresh  emigrants 
in  two  vessels.  The  hope  of  the  old  colonists,  which  had  revived  at 
the  sight  of  their  new  associates,  soon  died  away  again ;  for  this  rein- 
forcement was  only  a  repetition  of  the  old  disastrous  elements.  The 
new-comers  were  vagabond  gentlemen,  refiners  of  gold,  goldsmiths, 
and  jewellers.  Smith,  for  the  first  time,  was  almost  disheartened 
himself.  They  would  neither  build  nor  cultivate,  but  fancying  that 
they  should  discover  grains  of  gold  in  the  micacious  sands  of  a  stream 
near  Jamestown,  they  set  to  work,  and,  as  Smith  himself  records, 
"  there  was  now  no  talk,  no  hope,  no  work,  but  dig  gold,  wash  gold, 
refine  gold,  load  gold."  The  whole  colony  was  mad  about  gold ;  and 
Newport  having  remained  fourteen  weeks  in  harbour,  idling  away 
his  time  and  consuming  with  his  crew  the  provisions  of  the  colony, 
which  were  already  considerably  diminished  by  the  accidental  burn- 
ing of  the  storehouse,  sailed  away,  having  laden  his  ship  with  the 
glittering  earth,  and,  contrary  to  the  assertions  of  Smith,  believing 
that  he  was  conveying  home  vast  treasures.  Wingfield  and  some  of 
his  partisans  sailed  with  him.  The  other  ship  was,  by  the  strenuous 
advice  of  Smith,  laden  with  cedar,  skins  and  furs,  and  furnished  the 
first  valuable  remittance  from  Virginia  to  the  mother-country. 

Disgusted  at  the  folly  of  the  colonists,  upon  whom  his  better 
reason  had  no  influence,  Smith  left  them  for  awhile  to  their  own 
devices,  and  with  a  few  companions  made  two  voyages  during  the 
summer  months  in  an  open  boat  to  explore  the  Bay  of  Chesapeake 
and  its  affluents:  and  in  this  manner  he  accomplished  about  three 
thousand  miles.  He  surveyed  the  Bay  of  Chesapeake  to  the  Susque- 
hanna.  He  was  the  first  to  make  known  to  the  English  the  fame  of 
the  Mohawks,  who  dwelt  upon  the  great  water,  and  had  many  boats 
and  many  men,  and  who,  according  to  the  feebler  Algonquin  tribes, 
made  war  upon  the  whole  world.  He  discovered  and  explored  the 


(1608.)  SMITH'S  ADMINISTRATION  AT  JAMESTOWN.  49 

Patapsco,  and  probably  entered  the  harbour  of  Baltimore.  He 
entered  the  mighty  Potomac,  which  at  its  outlet  is  seven  miles  broad, 
which  he  ascended  beyond  the  present  Mount  Vernon  and  Washing- 
ton, as  far  as  its  falls  above  Georgetown.  Nor  did  he  content  himself 
with  merely  exploring  rivers ;  he  penetrated  into  the  country,  and 
established  friendly  relationships  with  various  tribes  of  powerful 
Indians,  many  of  them  in  perpetual  warfare  one  with  another.  On 
his  second  expedition  he  brought  back  with  him  to  Jamestown  a 
cargo  of  corn.  He  prepared  an  account  of  his  voyage,  with  descrip- 
tions of  the  country  and  the  natives,  accompanied  by  a  map,  which 
remains  extant  to  this  time,  and  which  is  singularly  correct. 

Shortly  after  his  return,  Smith  was  made  president  of  the  colony. 
Subordination  and  industry  now  began  to  prevail.  The  first  corn  of 
their  own  planting  was  reaped.  Again  Newport  arrived  with  fresh 
emigrants,  two  of  whom  were  women.  There  came  also  a  few  Poles 
and  Germans  to  teach  the  art  of  making  pitch,  tar,  potash  and  glass. 
The  company  in  London  wrote  by  this  vessel  in  a  very  angry  strain. 
They  were  greatly  dissatisfied  that  their  heavy  outlays  produced  no 
return,  for,  of  course,  the  shining  earth  which  Newport  carried  back 
with  him  on  his  voyage  was  found  to  be  utterly  worthless.  They 
now  required  a  lump  of  gold ;  the  positive  discovery  of  a  direct  pas- 
sage to  the  South  Sea,  or  some  of  the  lost  company  planted  on 
Roanoke  !  "  If,"  said  they,  "  the  colonists  do  not  send  back  valuable 
commodities  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  voyage,  amounting  to 
£2,000,  they  shall  henceforth  be  left  to  manage  for  themselves,  as 
banished  men." 

Smith  very  justly  wrote  back,  "  I  entreat  you  send  me  but  thirty 
carpenters,  husbandmen,  gardeners,  fishermen,  blacksmiths,  masons, 
and  diggers  up  of  the  roots  of  trees,  well  provided,  rather  than  a 
thousand  of  such  as  we  now  have." 

But  for  the  wisdom  and  efficiency  of  this  brave  man,  the  colony 
must  have  perished.  Making  the  best  of  such  as  he  had,  the  gentle- 
men, whom  necessity  had  taught  the  use  of  the  axe,  were  employed 
in  cutting  down  timber  to  freight  his  ship.  He  obliged  them  to 
work  six  hours  a  day ;  "  he  who  will  not  work,  shall  not  eat "  was 
his  law.  Jamestown,  by  the  close  of  autumn,  assumed  a  more 
habitable  appearance,  but  as  yet  only  between  thirty  and  forty  acres 

VOL.  I.  3 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  land  had  been  brought  into  cultivation.  Food  was  still  so  scanty 
that  they  were  obliged  to  seek  for  supplies  from  the  Indians.  Smith 
went  himself  to  Powhatan  for  this  purpose,  but  found  the  old  chief 
unfriendly ;  nay,  a  scheme  was  even  laid  to  take  his  life,  and  again 
he  was  saved  by  Pocahontas,  who  came  through  a  midnight  storm 
to  warn  him  of  his  danger.  Newport  was  despatched  with  a  cargo  of 
timber,  and  specimens  of  tar,  pitch,  and  potash,  prepared  by  the 
Germans. 

The  corporate  company  in  London  boasted  of  the  success  of  the 
enterprise,  spite  of  their  angry  letter  and  threats  to  the  colony  itself, 
and  powerful  men  became  its  adherents  ;  among  these  was  Cecil,  the 
inveterate  enemy  of  Raleigh,  who  had  first  called  public  attention  to 
the  colonisation  of  these  very  shores,  and  who  now,  at  this  time,  was 
a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London.  This  body  having  thus  become 
more  important  at  home,  without  any  knowledge  or  sanction  of  the 
colony  itself,  entirely  changed  its  constitution.  The  territory  was 
also  extended  by  a  grant  of  all  lands  on  the  sea  coast,  within  the 
limits  of  two  hundred  miles  north,  and  two  hundred  miles  south  of 
old  Point  Comfort. 

A  new  charter  was  obtained,  which  transferred  the  power  formerly 
vested  in  the  king  to  the  company.  The  shareholders  at  home  were 
now  the  legislators.  A  governor,  in  whom  was  vested  uncontrolled 
power,  was  to  be  appointed  by  them.  The  lives,  liberties,  fortunes 
of  the  colonists  were  to  be  all  placed  in  the  hands  of  this  one  man ; 
to  the  colonists  themselves  not  a  single  privilege  was  conceded. 

Lord  De  la  "Ware  was  appointed  governor,  with  a  lieutenant- 
governor,  admiral,  vice-admiral,  high-marshal,  and  other  officers, 
with  high-sounding  titles  under  him,  all  of  whom  were  appointed 
for  life.  A  general  enthusiasm  was  awakened  at  home  towards 
this  Virginian  colony,  and  500  emigrants  offered  themselves  and 
were  accepted.  Lord  De  la  Ware,  not  being  able  immediately  to 
take  possession  of  his  new  government,  Newport,  now  admiral,  set 
sail  in  June,  1609,  with  a  fleet  of  nine  vessels,  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and 
Sir  George  Somers  being  sent  out  to  administer  the  government  till 
Lord  De  la  Ware's  arrival.  The  admiral  and  the  two  deputy- 
governors  sailing  in  the  same  vessel,  disagreed  on  the  important 
subject  oi  precedence,  and  in  a  violent  storm  off  the  Bermudas  were 


(1609.)  SMITH   LEAVES    VIRGINIA — HIS    CHARACTER.  51 

stranded  on  the  rocks,  and  one  vessel  being  lost,  seven  only  reached 
Virginia. 

Smith  found  himself  now  in  a  difficult  position.  The  old  charter 
under  which  he  held  authority  was  at  an  end ;  there  was  now,  in  the 
absence  of  the  stranded  vessel,  which  had  on  board  all  the  officials, 
no  one  in  the  colony  who  could  legally  assume  the  government.  The 
new  emigrants  were,  if  possible,  worse  than  any  who  had  hitherto 
arrived.  "  Dissolute  gallants,"  says  the  chronicle,  "  packed  off  to 
escape  worse  destinies  at  home,  broken  tradesmen,  rakes  and  liber- 
tines, men  fitter  to  breed  a  riot  than  form  a  colony."  "  It  was  not 
the  will  of  God,"  says  Bancroft  beautifully,  "  that  the  new  state 
should  be  formed  of  these  materials — that  such  men  should  be  the 
fathers  of  a  progeny  born  on  the  American  soil,  who  were  one  day 
to  assert  American  liberties  by  their  eloquence,  and  defend  it  by  their 
valour." 

Smith,  however,  with  his  incomparable  power  of  organisation  and 
rule,  contrived  for  some  little  time  to  bring  these  turbulent  elements 
under  control,  and  by  devising  new  expeditions  and  settlements  to 
give  them  employment.  At  last  the  explosion  of  a  bag  of  gunpowder 
in  his  boat  deprived  the  colony  ot  his  valuable  services.  He  was 
severely  injured ;  and  as  the  colony  furnished  no  surgical  aid,  he 
was  compelled  to  return  to  England  to  seek  it  in  one  of  the  lately- 
arrived  vessels,  after  having  delegated  his  authority  to  Percy,  brother 
of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland.  He  left  about  500  persons  in 
Virginia,  well  supplied  with  arms,  provisions,  and  goods  for  Indian 
traffic.  There  were  about  sixty  dwelling-houses  in  the  town,  besides 
a  fort,  a  church,  and  a  storehouse  ;  there  was  a  good  stock  of  goats, 
of  hogs,  sheep,  and  poultry,  together  with  a  few  horses  ;  with  about 
forty  acres  of  land  brought  into  cultivation.  He  had  weathered  the 
storm  of  the  early  days  of  the  colony  ;  in  all  the  difficulties  of  his  situa- 
tion he  had  exhibited  a  courage  and  perseverance,  a  coolness  of  judg- 
ment, a  patience  and  wisdom,  which  have  scarcely  ever  been  equalled. 
"  He  was,"  says  the  historian,  "  accustomed  to  lead,  not  to  send  his  men 
into  danger  ;  he  would  suffer  rather  than  borrow,  starve  rather  than  not 
pay.  He  had  nothing  counterfeit  in  his  nature ;  but  was  open,  honest, 
and  sincere."  We  have  dwelt  long  on  the  deeds  and  character  of  this 
brave,  true  man,  because  it  is  ever  a  pleasure  to  find  such  an  one. 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

No  sooner  was  Smith  gone  than  subordination  and  industry  wero 
at  an  end.  The  colonists  abandoned  themselves  to  idleness  and 
indulgence  ;  the  store  of  provisions  was  consumed.  Percy,  to  whom 
Smith  had  delegated  his  authority,  had  not  the  power  to  enforce  it ; 
no  one  regarded  him.  The  unoffending  Indians  being  attacked  and 
murdered  by  the  settlers,  now  became  hostile,  and  refused  to  con- 
tribute any  further  supplies.  The  horrors  of  absolute  famine  faced 
them ;  a  company  of  thirty  seized  a  small  vessel  belonging  to  the 
colony,  and  sailed  away  as  pirates.  In  the  traditions  of  Virginia 
this  horrible  season  of  winter,  famine,  and  crime,  is  known  as  the 
starving  time.  By  the  spring  of  the  following  year,  of  the  490  per- 
sons whom  Smith  had  left  in  health  and  comparative  comfort,  only 
sixty  remained,  and  these  so  reduced  and  dispirited  that  a  few  days 
longer  would  have  terminated  their  sufferings. 

This  terrible  time,  like  the  flood  in  the  days  of  Noah,  was  one  of 
the  wise  judgments  of  God,  sent  to  sweep  away  those  who  were  unfit 
to  live.  It  was  not  the  will  of  God  that  the  state  should  be  formed 
of  such  base  materials  ;  we  repeat  the  words,  as  true. 

A  few  days  would  have  ended  the  lives  of  the  remnant  that  was 
left,  but  help  came  within  the  time.  The  ship  that  had  been  wrecked 
on  the  Bermudas  arrived  without  loss  of  life.  For  nine  months  the 
shipwrecked  men  had  remained  on  an  uninhabited  but  fertile  island, 
where  they  had  been  well  sustained.  From  the  wreck  of  their  own 
ship  and  timber  which  they  felled,  they  constructed  two  vessels,  and 
in  these  safely  reached  their  destination.  They  came  expecting  to 
be  received  by  a  prosperous  and  happy  colony  ;  far  different  was  the 
scene  which  presented  itself — the  extremity  of  distress,  death  by 
starvation  even  for  themselves  if  they  remained,  was  that  which 
they  found.  Gates  resolved  at  once  to  sail  for  Newfoundland,  and 
seek  safety  among  the  fishermen  there.  Four  pinnaces  lay  in  the 
river  belonging  to  the  colonists,  and  in  these  they  all  determined  to 
embark ;  the  colonists  were  anxious  to  leave  for  ever  the  scene  of 
their  misery,  determining,  as  a  last  act,  to  burn  the  town  in  which 
they  had  suffered  so  much ;  this,  however,  Gates,  who  was  the  last 
to  leave  the  shore,  prevented.  They  fell  down  the  stream  with  the 
tide,  and  "  none,"  says  the  chronicle,  "  dropped  a  tear,  for  none  had 
enjoyed  there  one  day  of  happiness."  As  they  approached  the  mouth 


(1610.)  LORD   DE   LA  WARE    IN   VIRGINIA.  53 

of  the  stream,  a  boat  was  seen  advancing  towards  them.  It  was 
the  long-boat  of  Lord  De  la  "Ware,  now  put  off  to  land  from  one  of 
the  three  ships  with  which  he  had  come  from  England,  bringing 
new  colonists  and  provisions  !  The  hand  of  God  surely  was  in  this. 
The  disheartened  fugitives  bore  up  the  helm,  and  with  a  favouring 
wind  entered  once  more  the  harbour  of  Jamestown.  It  was  well  for 
them  now  that  there  were  houses  left  to  receive  them. 

It  was  on  the  llth  of  June,  and  with  solemn  services  of  thanks- 
giving to  Heaven,  the  restored  colonists  took  possession  of  their  former 
place.  A  deep  sense  of  the  infinite  mercies  of  God  now,  for  the  first 
time,  impressed  its  character  upon  the  colony.  The  remnant  of  the 
original  colonists  who  had  been  saved  from  famine,  the  remnant  of 
the  former  emigrants  who  had  been  saved  from  shipwreck,  were  now 
restored  and  provided  for  as  by  a  miracle,  whilst  they,  the  new 
comers,  who  had  expected  joy  and  prosperity,  and  found  instead 
misery  and  want,  were  evidently  the  angels  of  God's  providence. 
This  was  an  occasion  which  could  riot  but  deeply  impress  all.  "  It 
is,"  said  they,  "  the  arm  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  who  would  have  his 
people  pass  the  Red  Sea  and  the  wilderness  before  they  could  possess 
the  promised  land." 

After  solemn  religious  service,  LordDe  la  Ware  read  his  commission. 
A  consultation  was  held  for  the  good  of  the  colony ;  government 
was  organised  with  mildness  but  decision.  The  terrible  crisis 
through  which  the  colony  had  passed,  like  the  effect  of  severe  fever 
on  the  human  frame,  had  left  it  at  first  weak  perhaps,  but  reno- 
vated as  by  a  new  principle  of  life ;  the  disease— the  moral  disease — 
was  gone  from  the  colony.  The  colonists  now  performed,  with 
obedience  and  alacrity,  their  duties  in  truth  and  piety,  assembling 
every  morning  before  commencing  the  labours  of  the  day  in  the 
little  church,  which  was  kept  neatly  trimmed  with  the  wild  flowers 
of  the  country,  after  which  they  returned  home  and  received  their 
allowance  of  food.  Labour  went  on  with  cheerfulness ;  the  houses 
were  made  warm  and  home-like.  Comfort  and  prosperity  returned 
to  the  colony. 

In  the  dawn  of  this  better  day  the  health  of  the  excellent  Lord  De 
la  Ware  declined.  His  mild  virtues  had  been  as  efficient  in  the 
milder  elements  now  composing  the  colony,  as  the  higher  character 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

of  Smith,  had  been  on  its  more  turbulent  elements  ;  and  his  loss  at 
this  time  was  very  great.  He  returned  to  England  within  less  than 
a  year  of  his  arrival,  leaving  Percy,  as  Smith  had  done  before 
him,  as  his  deputy.  The  colony  now  consisted  of  200  men,  and  the 
departure  of  their  beloved  governor  cast  a  gloom  on  all  hearts. 

Fortunately  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  a  worthy  and  experienced  soldier 
in  the  Low  Countries,  had  been  already  despatched  from  England 
with  supplies ;  and  he  arriving  in  the  colony  very  soon  after  Lord 
De  la  Ware's  departure,  assumed  the  government,  which  he  adminis- 
tered well,  though  with  severity,  and  more  according  to  .martial 
than  civil  law.  Dale,  nevertheless,  was  a  judicious  governor;  he 
saw  the  wants  of  the  colony,  and  he  strenuously  endeavoured  to 
remedy  them.  As  regarded  the  small  number  and  ill-provided  con- 
dition of  the  colonists,  he  wrote  home  entreating  that  these  things 
should  be  cared  for,  assuring  the  company  that  their  purses  and 
their  endeavours  would  never  open  nor  travel  in  a  more  meritorious 
enterprise.  "  Take  four  of  the  best  kingdoms  of  Christendom,"  says 
he,  "  and  put  all  together,  they  may  in  no  way  compare  with  this 
country,  either  for  commodities  or  goodness  of  soil."  And  Lord  De 
la  Ware  in  England  testified  to  the  same  effect.  In  consequence  of 
these  representations,  really  efficient  aid  came.  Sir  Thomas  Gates, 
now  appointed  governor,  conducted  six  ships  to  \rirgmia,  with  300 
emigrants,  100  head  of  cattle,  and  other  liberal  supplies.  And  as 
"  to  oblige  quickly  is  to  oblige  twice,"  this  aid  was  doubly  welcome, 
because  it  was  promptly  given.  Dale  wrote  his  letter  in  May,  and 
on  the  last  day  of  August  Sir  Thomas  Gates  and  his  ships  were 
seen  advancing  towards  Jamestown.  The  colonists,  who  least  of  all 
expected  so  ready  a  response  to  their  wishes,  seeing  what  appeared  a 
large  fleet  advancing,  dreaded  that  an  enemy  might  be  at  hand. 
This  was  a  new  terror,  a  new  misfortune.  As  the  fleet  approached, 
however,  they  perceived,  with  unspeakable  joy,  that  they  were 
friends. 

Sir  Thomas  Gates  assumed  his  government  with  an  act  of  solemn 
thanksgiving ;  and  so  deep  was  the  sentiment  of  gratitude  in  the 
hearts  of  the  colonists  for  this  real,  and,  as  it  seemed,  generous  aid, 
that  for  a  long  time  the  morning  and  evening  prayer  of  the  colonists 
was,  "Lord, bless  England,  our  sweet  native  country!" 


(1612.)       ALLOTMENT   OF  LAND    IN  VIRGINIA — NEW  CHABTER.  55 

The  colony  now  numbered  700.  New  settlements  were  formed, 
one  situated  up  the  river,  called  Henrico,  after  Prince  Henry ;  and 
here,  on  the  frontiers  of  the  Indians,  Alexander  Whitaker,  the 
"  Apostle  of  Virginia,"  preached  the  word  of  God  to  the  natives. 
But  perhaps  the  most  efficient  change  which  occurred  in  the  colony 
had  reference  to  the  now  established  law  of  private  property.  To 
each  man  was  allotted  a  few  acres  of  land  for  a  garden  and  orchard. 
Hitherto  the  land  had  all  been  worked  in  common,  and  the  produce 
deposited  in  public  stores.  The  excellent  results  of  the  new  arrange- 
ment were  soon  apparent  in  the  increased  industry  of  all.  To  this 
shortly  followed  larger  assignments  of  land,  and  before  long  the 
mode  of  common  labour  in  the  common  field,  to  fill  the  public  stores, 
was  wholly  abandoned.  From  this  time  the  sanctity  of  private  pro- 
perty, at  least  as  regarded  the  colonists,  was  recognised.  The  colo- 
nists themselves  still  made  free  with  the  possessions  of  the  Indians ; 
as  regarded  them,  might,  which  was  strong  in  their  hands,  was  right, 
as  is  too  often  the  case  where  the  civilised  man  deals  with  the 


In  March,  1612,  a  new  charter  was  obtained  by  the  London  com- 
pany for  Virginia,  which  produced  an  important  change  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  colony,  and  through  which  the  first  seed  of  democracy 
was  introduced  into  the  government  of  Anglo-America.  Hitherto, 
as  we  have  seen,  all  power  had  been  vested  in  the  council,  which 
under  the  first  charter  was  appointed  by  the  king ;  now  the  control 
of  the  company's  affairs  was  removed  from  the  council,  and  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  stockholders  themselves,  who  were  empowered  to 
convene  meetings  for  the  transaction  of  the  lesser  business,  whilst  a 
great  and  general  court  was  held  once  a  quarter  for  important  busi- 
ness. This  charter  also  allowed  the  company  to  raise  money  by 
means  of  lotteries ;  but  this  liberty,  after  a  few  years,  was  withdrawn 
as  a  public  evil. 

The  powers  of  the  company  were  increased  by  the  new  charter, 
and  the  affairs  of  the  colony  assumed  an  aspect  of  stable  prosperity. 
As  in  the  days  of  Smith,  the  Indians  entered  into  treaties  of  alliance, 
nay,  even  went  beyond  it,  declaring  themselves  tributaries  of  the 
English. 

A  marriage  now  took,  place  in  the  colony,  which  forms  an  impor- 


5G  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tant  event  in  its  annals,  and  the  details  of  which  we  must  give 
somewhat  at  length.  Captain  Argall,  an  adventurer,  who  had  come 
to  Virginia  in  a  trading  ship,  being  on  one  occasion  sent  up  the 
Potomac  to  trade  for  corn,  fell  in  with  the  young  Indian  girl,  Poea- 
hontas,  who  had  at  that  time  heen  absent  from  the  colony  of  James- 
town for  two  years.  Aided  by  a  chief  of  the  district,  whom  Argall 
had  bribed  with  a  brass  kettle,  Pocahontas  was  induced  to  go  on 
board  his  ship,  when  he  carried  her  off  to  Jamestown.  Powhatan 
demanded  the  restoration  of  his  daughter,  which  Argall  refused 
without  ransom.  The  naturally  indignant  chief  prepared  for  war, 
when  a  deliverer  appeared  for  the  young  Indian  girl  in  the  person 
of  John  Rolfe,  an  honest  and  discreet  young  Englishman.  I  will 
give  the  narrative  in  the  words  of  Bancroft.  "  Rolfe  was  an  amiable 
enthusiast,  who  had  emigrated  to  the  forests  of  Virginia,  daily, 
hourly,  and  as  it  were  in  his  very  sleep,  hearing  a  voice  crying  in 
his  ears  that  he  should  strive  to  make  Pocahontas  a  Christian. 
With  the  solicitude  of  a  troubled  soul,  he  reflected  on  the  true  end 
of  his  being.  « The  Holy  Spirit,'  such  are  his  own  expressions, 
'  demanded  of  me  why  I  was  created  ?  and  conscience  whispered, 
that,  rising  above  the  censure  of  the  low-minded,  I  should  lead  the 
blind  in  the  right  paths.'  After  a  great  struggle  of  mind,  and  daily 
and  believing  prayers,  he  resolved  to  labour  for  the  conversion  of 
the  unregenerated  maiden,  and  winning  the  favour  of  Pocahontas 
herselfThe  desired  her  in  marriage.  Quick  of  comprehension,  the 
Indian  girl  received  instruction  readily,  and  soon,  in  the  little  church 
of  Jamestown,  which  rested  on  rough  pine  columns,  fresh  from  the 
forest,  and  was  in  a  style  of  rugged  architecture  as  wild,  if  not  as 
frail,  as  an  Indian  wigwam,  she  stood  before  the  font  which  had  been 
hollowed  from  the  trunk  of  a  tree,  and,  renouncing  her  country's 
idolatry,  professed  the  faith  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  was  baptized."  The 
gaining  of  this  one  soul,  the  first-fruits  of  Virginian  conversion,  was 
followed  by  her  nuptials  with  Rolfe.  In  April,  1613,  to  the  joy  of 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  with  the  approbation  of  her  father  and  her  friends, 
Opachisco,  her  uncle,  gave  the  bride  away;  and  she  stammered 
before  the  altar  her  marriage-vows  according  to  the  rites  of  the 
English  church. 

Every  historian  of  Virginia  commemorates  the  marriage  of  Rolfe 


(1616.)        POCABONTAS  IN  ENGLAND — HER  DEATH.  57 

to  the  Indian  Pocahontas  -with  approbation.  In  the  year  1616,  the 
Indian  wife,  instructed  in  the  English  language,  and  bearing  the 
English  name  of  Rebecca,  the  very  first  Christian  of  her  nation,  in 
company  with  Dale,  who  had  resigned  his  office  of  governor,  sailed 
with  her  husband  for  England.  The  daughter  of  the  wilderness  pos- 
sessed the  mild  elements  of  female  loveliness,  rendered  still  more 
beautiful  by  the  child-like  simplicity  with  which  her  education  in  the 
savannahs  of  the  New  "World  had  invested  her.  In  London  she  had 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  with  her  old  friend.  John  Smith,  and  by  him 
she  was  recommended  to  the  notice  of  the  Queen.  She  was  caressed 
at  court,  and  admired  in  the  city.  Nevertheless,  so  absurd  were  the 
prevailing  notions  at  that  time  regarding  royalty  in  England,  that 
Rolfe  narrowly  escaped  being  called  to  account,  because  he,  a 
commoner,  had  married  a  princess ! 

"  As  a  wife  and  a  young  mother,  Pocahontas  was  exemplary  j  she 
had  been  able  to  contrast  the  magnificence  of  European  life  with  the 
freedom  of  the  western  forest,  and  now,  as  she  was  preparing  to 
return  to  America,  at  the  age  of  twenty-two,  she  fell  a  victim  to  the 
English  climate,  saved,  as  by  the  hand  of  mercy,  from  beholding  the 
extermination  of  the  tribes  whence  she  sprung;  leaving  a  spotless 
name,  and  surviving  in  memory  under  the  form  of  perpetual  youth." 
The  Bollands  and  the  Randolphs,  two  of  the  most  distinguished 
families  of  Virginia,  are  proud  to  trace  their  descent  from  this 
marriage. 

The  portrait  or  Pocahontas,  which  is  still  preserved  among  her 
descendants,  represents  her  in  the  costume  which  was  worn  by  the 
higher  class  of  English  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth ;  but  the  stiff  Indian 
plaits  of  hair  which  hang  down  her  cheeks  from  beneath  her  head-dress 
betray  her  descent.  The  countenance  has  an  affecting  expression  of 
child-like  goodness  and  innocence,  and  the  eyes  have  a  melancholy 
charm.  The  portrait  was  taken  in  1616,  and  bears  the  inscription, 
Hatoakeah.  Rebecca  potentiss.  Princ.  Powhatan  Imp.  Virgince. 

The  consequence  of  this  alliance  was  peace  with  the  Indians,  not 
alone  with  the  Powhatans,  but  with  the  powerful  Chickahominies. 
The  Indians  wished  the  two  nations  to  blend  in  one,  and  proposed 
more  general  intermarriage,  but  the  English,  who  despised  the 

3* 


58  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Indians  as  savages,  and  abhorred  them  as  heathens,  would  not  pro- 
mote such  union,  and  by  degrees  the  old  animosities  were  revived. 

The  same  year  that  Pocahontas  was  married,  her  bold  abductor, 
Captain  Samuel  Argall,  who  had  the  spirit  of  a  pirate,  sailing  up  the 
eastern  coast  in  an  armed  vessel,  discovered  that  the  French  had 
established  a  little  settlement  called  St.  Savieur,  near  Penobscot,  on 
Mount  Desert  Island.  At  once  he  cannonaded  the  intrenchments 
and  speedily  gained  possession.  The  poor  settlers  clung  to  the  cross 
in  the  middle  of  the  village,  while  their  houses,  and  their  ship  lying 
peacefully  in  harbour,  were  pillaged ;  some  of  the  colonists  he  sent 
off  to  Prance,  others  he  carried  to  Jamestown,  and  among  these  one 
of  their  Jesuit  priests,  the  other  being  killed. 

The  colonists  of  Virginia,  jealous  of  any  French  settlement  on  their 
coasts,  despatched  Argall  again  to  the  north,  with  the  Jesuit  prisoner 
as  his  pilot ;  and  on  this  expedition  he  dispersed  the  settlement  at 
Port  Royal ;  the  place  itself,  he  burned,  and  the  settlers  took  shelter  in 
the  woods.  On  his  return,  he  entered  the  harbour  now  called  New 
York,  and  compelled  the  Dutch  settlement  on  the  island  of  Man- 
hattan to  acknowledge  the  English  supremacy,  and  this,  although 
England  was  then  at  peace  with  France  and  Holland.  No  sooner, 
however,  was  Argall  gone,  than  the  French  returned  to  Port  Royal, 
and  the  Dutch  hoisted  again  their  flag  on  Manhattan. 

The  prosperity  and  the  anticipated  glories  of  Virginia  were  now 
themes  of  exultation  in  England ;  and  the  theatre,  which  had 
formerly  made  the  colony  a  subject  of  derision,  rang  with  its  praises, 
and  lauded  King  James  as  the  patron  of  colonies. 

In  1614,  Sir  Thomas  Gates  left  the  colony,  appointing  Sir  Thomas 
Dale  his  successor.  A  few  words  must  now  be  said  regarding  the 
land-law  of  Virginia.  The  original  grant  had  allowed  all  persons 
coming  to  Virginia,  or  sending  others,  one  hundred  acres  of  land  for 
each  person  so  arriving  in  the  colony.  This  allowance  was  now 
reduced  to  fifty,  and  so  it  remained  as  long  as  Virginia-  was  a  British 
colony ;  two  shillings  for  each  hundred  acres  being  paid  annually  as 
quit  rent.  Such  emigrants  as  were  sent  out  at  the  expense  of  the 
company  were  its  servants,  bound  by  indenture  to  labour  for  the 
company,  receiving  three  acres  of  land  each,  and  being  allowed  one 


(1616.)      THE  LAND -LAW  OF  VIRGINIA — PROSPERITY  OF  THE  COLONY.      59 

month's  service  for  themselves,  with  a  small  allowance  of  two  bushels 
of  corn  from  the  public  store ;  the  rest  of  their  labour  belonged  to 
their  employers.  This  class  gradually  wore  out.  Others  were  tenants 
of  the  company,  and  paid  two  barrels  and  a  half  of  corn  as  an  annual 
contribution  to  the  public  store,  and  gave  one  month's  labour  in 
the  twelve  to  the  public  service ;  but  this,  however,  neither  in  seed 
time  nor  harvest.  Other  lands  were  granted  as  rewards  of  real  or 
pretended  merit,  none,  however,  to  exceed  two  thousand  acres  to  one 
person.  And  here  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  to  John  Smith,  the 
greatest  benefactor  of  the  infant  colony,  not  a  single  acre  of  land  was 
ever  awarded,  and  he,  whose  unselfishness  was  only  equal  to  his 
merit,  never  demanded  it.  To  the  governor  was  appointed  a  plan- 
tation to  be  cultivated  for  him  by  the  company's  servants ;  and  the 
other  colonial  officers  were  remunerated  in  the  same  manner.  Twelve 
pounds  ten  shillings  paid  into  the  company's  treasury,  gave  a  title 
also  to  one  hundred  acres,  with  a  reserved  claim  for  as  much  more. 

Such  were  the  earliest  land-laws  of  Virginia;  and  imperfect  and 
unequal  as  they  were,  they  yet  enabled  the  cultivator  to  become  the 
proprietor  of  the  soil.  The  cultivation  of  corn  in  a  few  years  had 
become  so  great,  that  the  colonists,  from  buyers  of  corn,  had  become 
sellers  to  the  Indians.  Tobacco  also  was  cultivated  with  great 
success;  potash,  soap,  glass,  tar,  all  gave  place  now  to  tobacco. 
Seeking  for  gold  was  happily  at  an  end;  fields  and  gardens,  nay,  even 
the  public  squares  and  streets  of  Jamestown,  grew  tobacco.  Tobacco, 
which  was  the  life  of  Virginian  industry,  became  its  staple  produce 
and  finally  its  currency. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  growing  prosperity,  the  discontents  of  the 
colony  were  justly  raised  by  evils  incident  to  their  position  under  a 
corporate  body,  through  whom  interested  parties  obtained  posts  for 
which  they  were  wholly  unfitted,  without  the  colony  having  a  voice 
in  the  appointment.  Hence,  in  1616,  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  an  able 
though  stern  governor,  having  returned  to  England,  leaving  George 
Yeardley  deputy-governor,  the  notorious  Captain  Samuel  Argall, 
through  the  influence  of  Lord  Rich,  afterwards  Earl  of  Warwick, 
was  sent  out,  not  only  as  deputy-governor,  but  admiral.  A  more 
unfit  man  could  not  have  been  selected.  Martial  law  was  again  the 
law  of  the  colony.  The  return  of  Lord  De  la  Ware  was  petitioned 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

for,  and  that  excellent  man  embarked  to  resume  his  office,  but  died 
on  the  voyage.  Unlimited  power  was  in  the  rapacious  hands  of 
Argall ;  the  labour  of  the  colonists  was  enforced  for  his  benefit ;  even 
life  itself  was  insecure  against  his  capricious  passions.  The  colony 
appealed  to  the  company  on  behalf  of  an  innocent  man,  who  for 
merely  speaking  freely  against  his  tyranny,  was  condemned  by  him 
to  death.  Fortunately  for  the  colony,  Argall  had  also  defrauded  the 
company ;  he  was  therefore  deposed,  and  George  Yeardley,  a  mild 
and  popular  man,  was  appointed  captain-general;  Argall,  in  the 
meantime,  disappeared  from  the  colony,  having  fled  with  the  fruits  of 
his  peculation  to  the  West  Indies,  and  thence  to  England,  where, 
strange  to  say,  his  partisans,  of  whom  he  had  many  in  the  company, 
prevented  his  being  called  to  account. 

Under  the  administration  of  Yeardley,  who  was  now  knighted,  the 
colony  prospered  greatly ;  martial  law  was  abolished ;  the  planters 
were  released  from  further  service  to  the  colony,  and  the  first  colonial 
assembly  ever  held  in  Virginia  took  place  at  Jamestown,  in  June, 
1619.  The  exactions  and  abuses  of  Argall  had  led  to  the  concession 
of  law  and  justice  by  the  company.  A  great  step  was  gained.  This 
was  the  dawn  of  legislative  liberty  in  America.  "The  colonists,  now 
become  willing  to  regard  Virginia  as  their  future  home,"  says  the  old 
chronicler,  "  fell  to  building  houses  and  planting  corn." 

Fortunately,  also,  the  treasurer  of  the  company  in  London,  Sir 
Edwin  Sandys,  a  man  of  great  judgment  and  firmness,  investigated 
the  affairs  of  the  colony,  and  carried  out  the  reform  of  many  abuses. 
It  was  now  twelve  years  since  the  foundation  of  Jamestown,  yet  the 
colony  consisted  but  of  six  hundred  persons,  men,  women,  and 
children;  and  in  this  present  year  of  1620,  Sir  Edward  Sandys  sent 
out  twelve  hundred  and  sixty-one  persons.  The  character  of  his 
emigration  is  also  worthy  of  consideration.  Hitherto  but  few  per- 
sons going  to  tke  colony  had  done  so  with  the  intention  of  settling  • 
their  purpose  had  been  to  make  money  and  then  return  home ;  few 
women,  therefore,  had  ventured  across  the  ocean; — now,  however, 
everything  was  changed  for  the  better ;  Virginia  offered  a  desirable 
home  for  families,  therefore  "ninety  agreeable  young  women,  of 
incorrupt  lives,"  through  the  influence  of  Sandys,  were  sent  out  at  the 
expense  of  the  company,  sure  of  a  cordial  welcome  in  the  colony,  but 


(1621.)  EMIGRATION  TO  VIRGINIA—  SIR  E.  WYATT  BECOMES  GOVERNOR.  61 

only  to  bo  married  to  men  well  able  to  support  them,  and  who  would 
willingly  pay  the  cost  of  their  passage.  This  adventure  answered  so 
well  in  every  respect,  that  the  next  year  sixty  more  "maids  of 
virtuous  education,  young,  handsome,  and  well  recommended,"  went 
out;  and  so  great  was  the  demand  for  them,  that  their  price  rose 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  weight  of  tobacco,  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty  each;  and  so  much  was  the  worth  of  a  man 
increased  by  his  being  married,  that  the  company  gave  employment 
by  preference  to  men  with  wives.  The  result  of  this  new  element  in 
the  coiony  was  great,  but  not  more  so  than  was  natural.  Now 
commenced  the  existence  of  domestic  life,  and  with  it  virtuous 
sentiments  and  habits  of  thrift.  Within  three  years,  so  greatly 
had  emigration  increased  under  these  circumstances,  that  3,500 
persons  landed  in  the  colony,  amongst  whom  were  many  Puritan 
refugees. 

In  1621,  Sir  George  Yeardley  was  succeeded  as  governor  by  Sir 
Edward  Wyatt,  who  carried  out  with  him  a  written  constitution, 
ratifying  in  the  main  the  form  of  government  established  by 
Yeardley.  The  form  of  constitution  prescribed  was  similar  to  that  of 
England,  and  remained  to  be  the  model  of  all  other  Anglo-American 
governments.  Its  purport  was  declared  to  be  "the  greatest  comfort 
and  benefit  to  the  people,  and  the  prevention  of  injustice,  grievances, 
and  oppression."  A  more  sound  basis  than  this  for  any  government 
could  not  have  been  devised.  A  governor  and  permanent  council 
were  to  be  appointed  by  the  company ;  a  general  assembly  was  to 
meet  yearly,  consisting  of  the  members  of  the  council,  and  delegates 
chosen  by  the  people  as  their  representatives,  two  for  each  borough, 
the  colony  being  divided  into  eleven  boroughs.  All  enactments  of 
the  General  Assembly,  however,  required,  to  become  valid,  the  ratifi- 
cation of  the  company  in  England.  It  was  further  ordained — and 
this  gave  the  greatest  satisfaction  perhaps  of  all — that  after  the 
government  of  the  colony  had  once  become  established,  no  orders  of 
the  company  in  London  should  be  valid  unless  ratified  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  colony.  The  courts  of  justice  were  to  be  constituted 
according  to  the  laws  and  mode  of  trial  established  in  England. 

Representative  government  and  trial  by  jury  were  established  in 
America;  and  the  colonists,  no  longer  depending  on  a  commercial 


62  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

corporation,  now  became  enfranchised  citizens.  "  Henceforth,"  says 
Bancroft,  "  the  supreme  power  was  held  to  reside  in  the  hands  of  the 
colonial  parliament,  and  of  the  king,  as  king  of  Virginia.  This  ordi- 
nance was  the  basis  on  which  Virginia  erected  the  superstructure  of 
her  liberties.  Its  influences  were  wide  and  enduring,  and  can  be 
traced  through  all  following  years  of  the  history  of  the  colony.  It 
constituted,  in  its  infancy,  a  university  of  freemen;  and  succeeding 
generations  learned  to  cherish  institutions  which  were  as  old  as  the 
first  period  of  the  prosperity  of  their  fathers.  The  privileges  which 
were  now  conceded  could  never  be  wrested  from  the  Virginians,  and 
as  new  colonies  arose  at  the  south,  their  proprietaries  could  hope  to 
win  emigrants  only  by  bestowing  franchises  as  large  as  those  enjoyed 
by  their  older  rival." 

In  the  month  of  August,  1620,  fourteen  months  before  the  sitting 
of  the  first  representative  assembly  in  Virginia,  about  four  months 
before  the  landing  of  the  pilgrim-fathers  in  America,  a  century  after 
the  last  hereditary  serfdom  had  been  abolished  in  England,  and  six 
years  after  the  commons  of  France  had  petitioned  for  the  emanci- 
pation of  every  serf  in  any  fief,  a  Dutch  man-of-war  entered  James 
River,  bringing  in  twenty  negroes  for  sale.  The  necessity  for 
labourers  seems  to  have  been  the  first  cause  of  the  introduction  of 
negro  slaves,  into  Virginia,  and  the  Dutch  were  for  many  years  the 
principal  slave  traders.  The  cultivation  of  silk  and  of  the  vine  had 
been  introduced,  but  scarcity  of  labourers  caused  these  branches  of 
cultivation  to  languish;  cotton,  on  the  other  hand,  soon  engaged 
attention.  In  1621,  the  first  seeds  were  sown  as  an  experiment,  and 
their  "  plentiful  coming  up"  promised  the  most  successful  results. 

Wyatt  found  the  colony  in  a  high  degree  of  prosperity.  The 
English  had  extended  their  plantations  considerably  inland,  along 
the  banks  of  the  James  River  and  the  Potomac;  wherever  rich 
ground  invited,  there  they  established  themselves,  no  longer  fearing 
the  solitude  of  the  forest,  because  they  no  longer  dreaded  the  power 
of  the  Indians.  The  Indians  were  regarded  with  contempt  or  pity;  a 
single  mastiff  would  put  many  to  flight ;  seven  hundred  armed 
savages  had  on  one  occasion  been  routed  by  fifteen  armed  men ;  no 
care  was  taken  to  conciliate  their  good  will,  although  in  many  cases 
their  condition  was  improved  by  the  introduction  of  some  of  the  arts 


(1621.)  UNEXPECTED  RISING   AMONG  THE    INDIANS.  63 

of  civilised  life.  Their  simple,  child-like  state  may  be  exhibited  by 
one  small  circumstance.  A  house  had  been  built  for  the  great  chief 
Opechancanough,  successor  of  Powhatan,  according  to  the  English 
style,  and  so  delighted  was  he  with  the  lock  on  the  door,  that  he 
locked  and  unlocked  it  a  hundred  times  a  day,  and  regarded  it  as  a 
triumph  of  skill. 

So  peaceful  were  all  things,  and  so  amicable  appeared  the  relation- 
ship with  the  natives,  on  the  arrival  of  Wyatt,  that  the  emigrants 
needed  fire-arms  apparently  merely  for  the  destruction  of  game ;  and 
the  old  law  of  the  colony  which  had  made  it  death  to  teach  an  Indian 
the  use  of  fire-arms,  was  now  so  much  disregarded,  that  the  Indians 
were  employed  by  the  whites  as  their  huntsmen.  Enmity,  however, 
was  not  extinct  in  the  heart  of  the  savage.  Powhatan,  the  father  of 
Pocahontas,  the  firm  friend  of  the  English,  was  dead,  and  his  younger 
brother,  his  successor,  entertained  different  sentiments  towards  the 
strangers,  whose  rapidly  increasing  numbers  and  widely  extending 
settlements  might  justly  awake  the  fear  and  the  jealousy  of  the  pri- 
meval possessors  of  the  soil.  A  deep  plan  of  extermination  was  laid. 
In  open  battle  the  Indian  knew  that  he  had  no  chance,  but  by  cun- 
ning and  guile  he  could  accomplish  much.  A  general  attack  was 
determined  on  by  the  Indians,  but  all  preparations  concealed  by 
impenetrable  secrecy.  The  Indians  appeared  as  amicably  disposed  as 
heretofore.  They  visited  the  settlements  of  the  English,  borrowed 
their  boats,  sat  at  their  tables,  and  made  professions  of  friendship  ; 
"sooner,"  said  they,  "shall  the  sky  fall  than  our  friendship  be  broken 
by  us ! "  and  this  on  the  very  morning  of  the  day  which  was  to 
destroy  the  whole  race. 

At  mid-day  on  the  22nd  of  March,  at  one  and  the  same  moment, 
the  Indians  fell  upon  the  whole  wThite  population  scattered  in 
distant  villages,  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  along  each  side  of 
the  river !  No  suspicion  of  such  an  intention  had  been  excited ; — men, 
women,  and  children,  the  missionary  who  had  taught  them  and 
laboured  among  them  with  unwearying  kindness  ;  those  from  whom 
the  Indian  never  received  anything  but  benefits,  all  were  murdered, 
with  every  appalling  circumstance  of  Indian  barbarity,  and  so  great 
was  their  fury,  that  they  even  attacked  the  dead,  as  if  to  murder 
them  anew. 


04  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

In  one  hour  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  persons  were  destroyed. 
And  the  whole  of  Virginia  might  have  slept  in  one  bloody  grave,  had 
not  a  converted  Indian,  the  night  before  the  massacre,  revealed  the 
plot  to  an  Englishman,  to  whom  he  was  much  attached,  and  whose 
life  he  wished  to  save.  By  this  means  Jamestown  and  the  nearer 
settlements  were  fully  prepared.  The  larger  portion  of  the  colony 
was  saved,  but  so  universal  was  the  terror  which  this  bloody  massacre 
occasioned,  that  all  public  works  were  interrupted,  and  the  more 
remote  settlements  abandoned.  The  cultivation  of  the  land  was 
almost  at  once  given  up,  and  of  the  eighty  nourishing,  happy  settle- 
ments which  had  so  lately  existed,  now  there  remained  but  eight. 
Some  of  the  colonists  fled  in  their  terror  to  England,  and  sickness 
broke  out  amongst  those  who  remained. 

The  colonists  rose  up  for  vengeance,  and  in  England  so  great  was 
the  sympathy  and  compassion  excited,  that  new  supplies  and  arms 
were  immediately  sent  out ;  King  James,  for  his  part,  ordering  a 
quantity  of  arms  which  had  been  thrown  into  the  Tower  as  good  for 
nothing  to  be  sent  over,  as  they  might  be  useful  against  the  Indians  ! 
The  city  of  London  and  many  private  persons  generously  contributed 
aid ;  and  the  brave  John  Smith,  then  in  London,  volunteered  his  ser- 
vices to  defend  the  colonists  and  chastise  the  Indians  ;  but  the 
company  declared  it  had  no  funds,  and  he  was  not  rich  enough  to  go 
out  at  his  own  cost. 

A  deep  cloud  rested  on  Virginia,  which  nothing  but  vengeance  on 
the  Indians  would  dispel.  The  Indians,  not  having  fully  accomplished 
their  scheme,  and  now  justly  dreading  a  ten-fold  retaliation,  fled  far 
into  the  forest.  But  their  land  was  seized  upon,  their  open  fields  and 
villages,  all  planted  on  the  pleasantest  and  most  fertile  sites,  were 
soon  in  secure  possession  of  the  English.  To  pursue  the  natives  to 
the  fastnesses  of  the  wilderness  was  impossible,  therefore  the  English 
in  their  turn  practised  guile.  They  assumed  an  aspect  of  forgiveness  ; 
the  savages,  by  degrees  losing  their  fear,  ventured  forth  again,  and 
even  approaching  their  old  haunts,  resettled  themselves  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  their  enemies.  The  aspect  of  peace  and  forbearance 
was,  however,  only  vengeance  deferred. 

In  July  of  the  following  year,  the  Indians  were  attacked  by  an 
army  under  commissioned  officers ;  a  similar  attack  was  repeated  the 


(1622.)          THR    LONDON   COMPANY    DISSOLVED    BY   JAMES  I.  65 

next  year,  and  for  several  years,  it  being  now  a  colonial  principle 
that  no  peace  should  be  concluded  with  the  Indians. 

Meantime  great  changes  as  regarded  the  relationships  of  the  colony 
to  the  mother-country  were  taking  place.     The  colony  of  Virginia 
had  not  been  a  lucrative  enterprise  for  the  London  company  ;    the 
shares  at  the  present  time  were  as  unproductive  stock  of  little  value  ; 
the  holders  were  numerous,  and  the  meetings  of  the  company  in 
London  had,  instead  of  being  mere  meetings    of  business,  become 
scenes  of  political  debate,  in  which  the  supporters  of  liberty  were 
arrayed  against  the  supporters  of  royal  prerogative.    Liberal  opinions 
here  found  free  play.     The  king  was  displeased  by  this  freedom  of 
debate.     Gondemar,  the  Spanish  envoy,  warned  James  that  "  these 
Virginian  courts  were  only  a  seminary  to  a  seditious  parliament." 
James,  who  abhorred  freedom  of  opinion,  determined  to  nip  it  in  the 
bud,  by  putting  an  end  to  the  hot-bed  which  fostered  it.     His  first 
endeavour  was  to  control  the  election  of  officers  by  overawing  their 
assemblies ;  and  failing  of  that,  he  determined  to  sequestrate  their 
patent,  and  recover  to  himself  the  authority  which  he  had  conceded 
to  the  company.     Commissioners  in  the  interest  of  the  king  were 
appointed  to  examine  into  the  affairs  of  the  corporation,  although 
former  charges  against  them  had  been  satisfactorily  answered ;  the 
records  were  seized ;   the  deputy-treasurer  imprisoned,  and  private 
letters  from  Virginia  intercepted  and  examined.  Smith  was  examined, 
and  his  straightforward,  honest  answers  exposed  the  bad  management 
of  the  company,  and  showed  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  charter 
would  be  a  boon  to  the  colony.      This  surprised  all ;  commissioners, 
who  had  been  appointed  to  examine  the  affairs  of  the  corporation  and 
the  colony  itself,  reported  in  favour  of  a  change.     The  king  did  not 
hesitate ;  the  London  company  was  dissolved,  and  Virginia  once  more 
became  a  royal  government,  as  under  its  first  charter. 

Whilst  these  things  were  going  on  in  England,  the  Virginians 
were  not  indifferent.  When  the  commissioners  arrived  in  the  colonv, 
the  prayer  of  the  colonists  was  that  the  governors  might  not  have 
absolute  power ;  that  the  liberty  of  popular  assemblies  might  not  be 
retrenched,  "for  nothing,"  said  they,  "can  conduce  more  to  public 
satisfaction  and  public  utility,  than  the  free  discussion  of  our  own 
affairs."  That  this  subject  might  be  efficiently  urged,  an  agent  was 


66  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

sent  for  that  purpose  to  England,  a  tax  of  four  pounds  weight  of  the 
best  tobacco  being  levied  on  each  male  above  the  age  of  sixteen,  and 
who  had  been  a  twelvemonth  in  the  colony,  to  defray  the  expenses. 
But  this  agent  unfortunately  died  on  his  voyage. 

The  spirit  of  liberty,  however,  had  taken  deep  root  on  the  Virginian 
soil.  Intimidation  and  promised  advantage  could  not  induce  the 
colony  to  pray  for  a  repeal  of  the  charter  under  which  their  first 
constitutional  liberty  had  been  granted.  On  the  contrary,  the 
assembly  met,  and  laid  down  laws  for  itself.  The  governor  said, 
"  they  shall  not  lay  any  taxes  or  impositions  on  the  colony,  its  lands 
or  commodities,  other  way  than  by  the  authority  of  the  General 
Assembly,  to  be  levied  and  employed  as  the  said  assembly  shall 
appoint."  Virginia,  the  Old  Dominion,  as  it  is  called,  was  the  first 
to  set  an  example  of  just  and  wise  legislation  as  regarded  the  use  of 
the  public  money.  Others  imitated  the  example  in  due  time.  Various 
governors  had  endeavoured  by  penal  enactments  to  compel  the  culture 
of  corn ;  now  it  was  said,  "  for  the  encouragement  of  men  to  plant 
store  of  corn,  the  price  shall  not  be  stinted,  but  it  shall  be  free  for 
any  man  to  sell  it  as  dear  as  he  can."  Through  the  whole  of  this  dis- 
turbed period  the  Virginians  showed  themselves  admirably  capable 
of  popular  government,  proving  how  truly,  with  the  aid  of  free  dis- 
cussion, men  become  good  legislators  in  their  own  concerns ;  wise 
legislation  being  the  enacting  of  proper  laws  at  proper  times,  and  no 
criterion  being  so  nearly  infallible  as  the  fair  representation  of  the 
interests  to  be  affected.  Among  the  laws  which  were  at  this  time 
framed,  and  which  reflect  the  manners  and  spirit  of  the  age,  we  may 
mention  the  following.  It  was  enacted  "  that  there  should  be  a  room 
or  house  set  apart  in  every  plantation  for  the  worship  of  God, 
sequestered  and  set  apart  for  that  purpose  only ; "  also  a  place  of 
burial  "  sequestered  and  paled  in."  Absence  from  public  worship 
without  allowable  excuse,  was  punished  by  the  fine  of  a  pound  weight 
of  tobacco,  or  fifty  pounds  weight,  if  absence  continued  a  month. 
Divine  service  was  according  to  the  canons  of  the  English  church. 
The  22nd  of  March  was  added  to  the  church  festivals,  in  commemo- 
ration of  the  escape  from  the  Indian  massacre.  Any  minister  absent 
from  his  parish  above  two  months  annually  forfeited  half  his  salary. 
The  falsely  disparaging  of  a  minister  rendered  the  offender  liable  to 


(1625.)  NEW   LAWS   OF   THE   COLONY.  67 

a  fine  of  five  hundred  pounds  weight  of  tobacco,  and  publicly  to  ask 
pardon  of  the  minister.  Ministers'  salaries  were  to  be  paid  out  of 
the  first-gathered  and  best  tobacco  and  corn-  Drunkenness  and 
swearing  were  punishable  offences.  Three  sufficient  men  were  to  be 
sworn  in  each  parish  to  see  that  every  man  cultivated  corn  sufficient 
for  his  family.  Every  settler  was  to  fence  in  a  garden  for  himself  of 
one  acre,  for  the  planting  of  vines,  roots,  herbs,  and  mulberry  trees. 
Weights  and  measures  were  to  be  sealed.  Every  house  was  to  be 
palisadoed  for  defence,  and  people  were  not  to  go  out  in  such  numbers 
as  might  leave  their  houses  undefended  and  liable  to  attack.  Delin- 
quent persons  of  quality,  not  fit  to  undergo  corporal  punishment, 
might  be  imprisoned  at  discretion,  or  fined  by  the  monthly  courts. 
"  At  the  beginning  of  July,  the  inhabitants  of  every  plantation  were 
to  fall  upon  their  neighbouring  savages,  as  they  did  last  year." 
Every  person  wounded  in  this  service  was  to  be  cured  at  the  public 
expense,  and  if  permanently  lamed  would  have  maintenance  for  life 
suitable  to  his  quality. 

The  London  company  was  at  an  end.  "  It  had,"  says  Bancroft, 
"fulfilled  its  high  destinies;  it  had  confirmed  the  colonisation  of 
Virginia,  and  had  conceded  a  liberal  form  of  government  to  English- 
men in  America.  It  could  accomplish  no  more." 

The  term  of  five  years  was  fixed  as  that  of  the  period  of  represen- 
tative government.  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt  was  confirmed  in  office  for 
that  term ;  and  the  king  himself  was  about  to  frame  a  code  of 
fundamental  laws  for  the  colony,  when  death  fortunately  put  an  end 
to  his  attempt. 

Charles  I.  succeeded  his  father,  March  27,  1625.  As  regarded  Vir- 
ginia, he  had  no  more  interest  in  it  than  as  the  country  producing 
tobacco,  and  from  which  he  hoped  to  derive  a  large  revenue.  His  first 
act  with  reference  to  the  colony  was  an  endeavour  to  obtain  for  him- 
self the  sole  monopoly  of  this  trade.  As  to  its  constitutions  and 
political  rights,  he  did  not  trouble  himself  about  them,  and  they  became 
established  by  his  very  indifference. 

In  1626,  Wyatt  having  returned  to  Europe,  Sir  George  Yeardley 
was  appointed  his  successor.  The  colony  prospered ;  in  1627,  one 
thousand  emigrants  arrived  in  the  country.  The  following  year 


68  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Yeardley  died,  leaving  behind  him  a  memory  cherished  by  the  colony 
as  the  first  governor  who  had  convened  a  representative  assembly. 

Again,  the  king  offered  to  contract  for  the  whole  crop  of  tobacco, 
desiring  that  an  assembly  might  be  called  to  consider  his  proposal. 
The  assembly  returned  a  firm  negative  to  the  royal  monopolist. 

On  the  death  of  Yeardley,  John  Harvey,  who  had  been  for  several 
years  a  member  of  the  council,  and  an  extremely  unpopular  man, 
was  nominated  governor  by  the  king  ;  but  as  he  was  not  then  in  the 
colony,  some  time  elapsed  before  he  appeared  to  assume  his  authority. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  Lord  Baltimore  visited  Virginia.  He 
fled  hither  as  a  persecuted  man,  and  was  hospitably  received ;  nor 
must  it  be  forgotten  that,  as  regarded  the  pilgrims  of  Plymouth  rock, 
they  were  invited  to  leave  that  sterile  and  inhospitable  region,  and 
plant  themselves  in  the  milder  regions  of  Delaware  Bay.  Puritanism 
was  evidently  at  that  time  not  persecuted  in  Virginia,  though  "  need- 
less novelties "  in  worship  had  been  prohibited  by  law  for  some 
years. 

In  the  autumn  of  1629,  Harvey,  the  new  governor,  arrived.  He 
was  unwelcome  from  various  causes ;  he  belonged  to  the  faction  to 
which  Virginia  ascribed  her  earliest  sorrows  ;  he  had  rendered  him- 
self extremely  unpopular  as  a  member  of  the  council ;  besides  which, 
it  had  been  well  pleasing  to  the  colony  that  King  James,  on  assuming 
supreme  authority,  had  entrusted  the  government  to  impartial  agents  ; 
but  now  the  appointment  of  Harvey  indicated  a  change  of  policy. 
His  arrival  among  them  was  naturally  cause  neither  of  satisfaction 
nor  of  rejoicing,  nor  does  he  appear  to  have  conciliated  their  favour. 
The  older  historians  charge  him  with  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  con- 
duct ;  yet  it  may  be  questionable  whether  he  was  quite  deserving  of 
the  ill-will  with  which  he  was  regarded,  as  the  revised  code  of  laws, 
which  was  published  with  consent  of  the  governor  and  the  council, 
neither  abrogated  nor  abridged  any  of  the  civil  rights  of  the 
colonists. 

His  administration,  however,  was  disturbed  by  disputes  respecting 
land-titles  under  the  royal  grants,  and  principally  in  consequence  of 
the  grant  of  Maryland  to  Lord  Baltimore,  which  caused  the  first 
European  blood  to  be  shed  by  Europeans  on  the  banks  of  the  Chesa- 


(1639.)  GOVERNOR   HARVEY— SIR   P.    WYATT — BERKELEY.  69 

peake.  Harvey  not  seconding  the  claims  of  Virginia  against  the 
royal  grant,  was  considered  hy  the  colonists  to  have  betrayed  their 
interests ;  and  full  of  indignation  against  him,  they  "  thrust  him  out 
of  his  government,"  says  the  old  chronicle,  and  "  appointed  Captain 
John  West  governor  in  his  stead  till  the  king's  pleasure  should  be 
known."  Harvey  consented  to  go  to  England  to  meet  his  accusers 
there,  but, 'as  might  have  been  expected,  no  accusations  would  be 
received  there  against  the  man  who  had  been  merely  acting  according 
to  royal  instructions.  The  commission  of  accusation  could  not  even 
obtain  a  hearing.  Harvey  returned  to  occupy  his  former  post,  and 
remained  in  office  till  1639,  when  Sir  Francis  Wyatt  succeeded  him. 
Two  years  afterwards,  Sir  William  Berkeley  was  appointed  governor. 
The  civil  condition  of  Virginia  was  greatly  improved ;  the  laws  and 
customs  of  England  still  further  introduced ;  cruel  punishments  were 
abolished;  old  controversies  adjusted;  a  more  equitable  system  of 
taxation  was  introduced ;  taxes  being  assessed  not  in  proportion  to 
numbers,  but  "  to  men's  abilities  and  estates ;"  the  rights  of  property 
and  the  freedom  of  industry  were  secured,  so  that  Virginia  enjoyed 
all  the  civil  liberties  which  a  more  free  form  of  government  could 
have  conferred.  The  Virginians  seem  early  to  have  understood  the 
true  elements  of  political  economy.  In  a  petition  addressed  to 
England,  in  1642,  they  asserted  the  necessity  of  the  freedom  of  trade, 
"  for  freedom  of  trade,"  say  they,  "  is  the  blood  and  life  of  a  common- 
wealth." And  as  regarded  self-government,  they  argued  with  the 
force  of  truth,  "  there  is  more  likelihood  that  such  as  are  acquainted 
with  the  clime  and  its  accidents  may,  upon  better  grounds,  prescribe 
our  advantages,  than  such  as  sit  at  the  helm  in  England." 

Spite  of  the  liberality  which  had  been  exhibited  in  the  colony  towards 
diversities  of  religious  opinion,  which  had  led  the  excellent  Whitaker 
to  say,  "let  neither  surplice  nor  subscription  be  spoken  of  here ;" 
which  had  causod  an  imAation  to  the  pilgrims  of  New  Hampshire  to 
remove  within  the  precincts  of  Virginia ;  a  spirit  of  intolerance  was 
now  manifested  by  the  legislative  assembly,  and  it  was  ordained  that 
"  no  minister  preach  or  teach  except  in  conformity  to  the  Church  of 
England."  Whilst  puritanism  and  republicanism  were  working 
together  for  the  downfall  of  monarchy  in  England,  Virginia 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

showed  the  strongest  attachment  to  the  cause  of  episcopacy  and 
royalty. 

The  hostility  of  the  settlers  against  the  natives  remained  year  by 
year  unabated.  Twenty-one  years  after  the  massacre,  it  was  enacted 
in  the  assembly  that  no  terms  of  peace  should  be  entertained  with  the 
Indians.  Now,  therefore,  the  Indians,  hearing  that  troubles  and  dis- 
sensions were  arising  in  England,  resolved  once  more  on  a  general 
massacre,  hoping,  that  by  destroying  the  corn-fields  and  cattle,  they 
might  cause  any  remnant  who  remained  to  perish  by  famine.  The 
eighteenth  of  April  was  fixed  upon  as  the  fatal  day ;  the  attack  com- 
menced on  the  border  frontiers ;  but  the  Indians  themselves,  filled  as 
it  were  by  a  consciousness  of  their  own  weakness  and  dread  of  the 
consequences,  had  scarcely  begun  to  shed  blood  when  they  fled.  The 
number  of  victims  was  again  about  three  hundred.  The  colonists 
roused  themselves  at  once,  and  war  commenced  again  vigorously 
against  the  Indians.  The  aged  Opechancanough,  the  successor  of 
Powhatan,  was  soon  taken  prisoner,  and  with  his  death  peace  was 
secured  to  the  English. 

This  fierce  warrior,  and  implacable  enemy  of  the  whites,  was  now 
nearly  one  hundred  years  of  age,  and  his  once  stately  form  was  wasted 
with  the  fatigues  of  war  and  bent  with  the  weight  of  years.  Unable 
to  walk,  says  the  historian  of  Virginia,  he  was  carried  from  place  to 
place  by  his  followers.  His  flesh  was  almost  wasted  away  from  his 
bones,  and  his  eyelids  were  so  powerless,  that  he  could  only  see  when 
they  were  lifted  by  his  followers. 

After  a  long  and  rapid  march,  Sir  "William  Berkeley,  with  a  party 
of  horse,  surprised  the  aged  warrior  at  some  distance  from  his  resi- 
dence, and  took  bim  prisoner  to  Jamestown,  where  he  was  exhibited 
as  an  object  of  curiosity  and  of  triumph  to  the  victor.  The  old 
monarch  of  the  forest,  retaining  a  spirit  unbroken  by  the  decrepitude 
of  the  body,  bore  his  calamities  of  fortune,  with  a  proud  though 
melancholy  mien.  Hearing  footsteps  in  the  room  where  he  lay,  he 
requested  his  eyelids  to  be  raised,  when  perceiving  a  crowd  of  spec- 
tators, he  called  for  the  governor,  and  upon  his  appearance  said  with 
calm  dignity,  "  Had  it  been  my  fortune  to  have  taken  Sir  William 
Berkeley  prisoner,  I  would  have  scorned  to  have  made  a  show  of 
him? 


(1648.)  ROYALIST   FEELING  AMONG  THE   VIRGINIANB.  71 

About  a  fortnight  after  the  noble  old  chief's  capture,  one  of  his 
guards,  from  private  revenge,  shot  him  in  the  back,  and  after  lan- 
guishing for  some  time  of  his  wound,  the  old  man  died. 

The  Indians  were  completely  subdued,  and  a  cession  of  land  was 
the  terms  on  which  peace  was  granted  to  the  original  possessors  of 
the  soil.  The  red  man  began  to  pass  away  from  the  precincts  of  the 
white.  "Within  a  short  period,  comparatively  speaking,  but  few 
memorials  of  their  former  existence  remained,  saving  the  euphonious 
or  sonorous  names  of  rivers  and  mountains,  the  great  imperishable 
features  of  nature,  which  thus  became  their  monuments. 

Whilst  civil  war  and  political  convulsions  were  agitating  England 
to  the  very  centre  of  her  being,  peace  and  prosperity,  security  and 
quiet,  equal  laws  and  general  contentment,  were  at  home  in  Virginia. 
The  population  of  the  colony  amounted  to  twenty  thousand,  and  was 
still  increasing ;  the  houses  were  filled  with  children,  as  the  ports 
were  with  ships  and  emigrants.  At  Christmas,  1648,  two  ships  from 
London  traded  with  Virginia,  two  from  Bristol,  twelve  from1  Holland, 
and  seven  from  New  England. 

The  Virginians  adhered  faithfully  to  the  royal  cause,  nor  would 
they,  after  the  execution  of  the  monarch,  recognise  the  Common- 
wealth, but  still  acknowledged  Charles  II.  to  be  monarch,  while  yet 
a  fugitive.  Virginia  soon  became  filled  with  cavaliers,  fugitives  like 
their  sovereign.  "  Men  of  consideration  among  the  nobility,  gentry, 
and  clergy,  struck  with  horror  and  despair  at  the  execution  of  the 
king,  and  desiring  no  reconciliation  with  the  unrelenting  rebels,  made 
their  way  to  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake,  where  every  house  was 
for  them  a  hostelry,  and  every  planter  a  friend."  In  the  hospitable 
homes  of  Virginia  they  often  met  to  talk  over  their  own  and  their 
country's  sorrows,  and  to  nourish  loyalty  and  hope. 

The  Parliament,  extremely  displeased  that  this  colony  should  thus 
become  the  asylum  and  nursery  of  monarchical  principles,  sent,  in 
1652,  a  naval  force  to  reduce  them  to  submission.  Already,  in  1650, 
foreign  ships  had  been  forbidden  to  trade  with  the  contumacious 
colony,  and  in  1651  the  celebrated  Navigation  Act  was  passed,  which, 
having  for  its  object  the  protection  of  British  shipping,  and  the 
acquisition  to  England  of  the  trade  of  the  world,  greatly  shackled 
and  restricted  the  commercial  prosperity  of  her  colonies. 


72  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

In  March,  1652,  the  republican  party  in  the  mother-country  deter- 
mined on  obtaining  the  concession  of  obedience  from  Virginia.  Com- 
missioners chosen  from  among  the  planters  themselves  were  empowered 
to  act  as  pacificators  with  their  country,  the  submission  of  which,  if 
their  efforts  failed,  would  be  enforced  by  the  severities  of  war.  It 
was  the  reconciliation  of  parent  and  child ;  the  offended  parent 
assumed  an  attitude  of  displeasure  and  resentment;  obedient  sub- 
mission was  that  which  was  demanded,  and  which,  if  needful,  would 
be  enforced  by  violence ;  yet,  would  but  the  child  submit,  the  parent 
would  concede  much;  and  the  child,  seeing  the  parent  in  earnest, 
yielded  at  once,  and  obtained  the  offered  concession.  No  sooner, 
therefore,  had  the  war-frigate  of  the  Commonwealth  anchored  in  the 
Chesapeake,  than  all  thoughts  of  resistance  wrere  laid  aside.  The 
colonists,  however  loyal  might  be  their  inclinations,  were  more  dis- 
posed to  establish  the  freedom  of  their  own  institutions  than  to  assume 
a  hostile  attitude  against  the  mother-country,  even  on  behalf  of  an 
exiled  monarch. 

There  is  something  noble  in  the  position  which  Virginia  now 
assumed.  It  was  not  to  force  that  she  surrendered,  but  by  "  a  volun- 
tary deed  and  mutual  compact ;  and  in  return  she  obtained,  that  her 
people  should  possess  all  the  liberties  of  free-born  people  of  England ; 
should  manage  their  business  as  formerly  in  their  own  assembly,  and 
should  have  as  free  trade  as  the  people  of  England.  No  taxes  nor 
customs  were  to  be  levied  except  by  her  own  representatives,  no  forts 
erected  nor  garrisons  maintained  but  by  her  consent." 

These  conditions,  so  favourable  to  liberty,  worthy  to  be  granted  by 
the  champions  of  political  and  civil  liberty  in  England,  were  a  cause 
of  great  satisfaction  to  Virginia  ;  and  so  earnest  was  the  spirit  of  her 
submission  and  her  desire  to  establish  an  amicable  understanding  with 
the  mother-country,  that  Richard  Bennett,  one  of  the  commissioners 
of  the  Parliament,  a  merchant  and  a  Roundhead,  was  unanimously 
elected  governor  in  the  place  of  Sir  William  Berkeley. 

The  spirit  of  democratic  liberty,  like  a  strong  young  tree,  grew 
with  every  change  of  season.  Hitherto  the  governor  and  the  council 
had  sat  in  the  General  Assembly ;  the  propriety  of  this  was  now 
questioned,  and  only  retained  by  a  concession  which  made  the  house 
of  burgesses,  a  convention  of  the  people,  virtually  possessed  of  supreme 


(1660.)    DEMOCRATIC  ELEMENT  IN  THE   VIRGINIAN  GOVERNMENT.  73 

authority.  Nor  were  these  privileges  at  all  interfered  with  by 
CronrwelL  When  Bennett  two  years  afterwards  retired  from  office, 
Edward  Diggs,  a  steadfast  Commonwealth's  man,  was  elected  his 
successor,  and  after  him  the  "worthy  old  Samuel  Matthews,  a  planter 
of  forty  years,  a  most  deserving  republican,  who  kept  a  good  house, 
lived  bravely,  and  was  a  true  lover  of  Virginia."  Under  his  governor- 
ship a  single  instance  of  the  determined  spirit  of  democracy  occurred 
which  still  more  strengthened  and  established  it.  The  governor  and 
his  council  having  come  to  issue  with  the  burgesses  on  a  question  of 
prerogative,  the  governor  yielded,  reserving  a  right  of  appeal  to 
Cromwell.  The  members  of  the  Assembly,  fearing  through  this  an 
infringement  of  their  liberty,  asserted  their  own  sovereign  authority, 
and  deposed  the  governor  and  council ;  re-electing  Matthews,  however, 
and  in  vesting  him  "with  all  the  just  rights  and  privileges  as  governor 
and  captain- general  of  Virginia,"  and  Matthews  submitted,  as  Virginia 
herself  had  done  in  her  quarrel  with  England,  that  by  submission  he 
might  conquer.  He  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  burgesses  to 
depose  and  re-elect ;  took  the  oath ;  and  thus  was  popular  liberty  still 
further  strengthened  in  the  Old  Dominion — an  example  to  all  other 
newer  states. 

In  March,  1660,  the  very  time  when  the  resignation  of  Richard 
Cromwell  left  England  without  a  ruler,  good  old  Samuel  Matthews 
died,  and  Virginia  was  in  the  same  predicament.  But  the  burgesses 
of  Virginia,  unlike  the  people  of  England,  stood  fast  by  democratic 
principles,  and,  enacting  that  the  supreme  power  should  still  reside 
in  the  General  Assembly  until  there  should  arrive  from  England  a 
commission,  which  the  Assembly  itself  should  adjudge  to  be  lawful, 
proceeded  to  elect  Sir  William  Berkeley  as  their  governor ;  and  he 
in  his  tarn  acknowledged  the  validity  of  this  act  of  the  Assembly 
by  assuming  office, "  for  I  am,"  said  he,  "but  a  servant  of  the  Assembly." 

Virginia,  in  this  case,  however,  it  must  be  observed,  recognised 
covertly  another  authority  higher  than  that  of  her  own  Assembly, 
retaining,  amid  her  spirit  of  democracy,  a  firm  sentiment  of  loyalty. 
She  hoped  at  this  time  for  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts. 

Virginia  was  composed  of  separate  boroughs,  and  the  government 
organised  on  the  basis  of  universal  suffrage.  Every  freeman  was 
possessed  of  a  vote.  On  an  attempt  to  limit  the  right  of  voting  to 

VOL.  I.  4 


74  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

householders,  it  was  declared  to  be  "  hard  and  unagreeable  to  reason 
that  every  person  shall  pay  equal  taxes  and  yet  have  no  vote  in  the 
elections." 

During  the  Commonwealth,  Virginia  not  only  enjoyed  the  utmost 
political  liberty,  but  unlimited  freedom  of  commerce  also,  while  her 
own  internal  state  was  that  of  peace  and  prosperity.  "  Tobacco,  the 
great  staple  product  of  the  country,  was  the  medium  of  exchange. 
Theft  was  hardly  known,  and  the  spirit  and.  administration  of  the 
criminal  law  was  mild  and  merciful ;  the  cultivation  of  land  was 
carried  on  very  successfully ;  and  as  regarded  commerce,  the  navigation 
laws  were  a  mere  dead  letter.  Virginia  even  traded  with  the  Dutch 
during  the  period  when  the  Protector  and  Holland  were  desperately 
contesting  the  sovereignty  of  the  seas.  The  Virginians  were  the 
early  advocates  of  free  trade,  and  invited  the  Dutch  and  all  foreigners 
to  trade  with  them  on  the  payment  of  no  higher  duty  than  that 
which  was  levied  on  such  English  vessels  as  were  bound  for  a  foreign 
port."  Proposals  of  peace  were  discussed  between  New  Netherlands, 
the  Dutch  colony  on  the  North  American  shore,  and  Virginia.  During 
this  period,  also,  considerable  advance  was  made  in  religious  liberty, 
although  the  Quakers  were  banished  from  the  colony. 

At  the  period  of  the  Restoration,  Virginia  possessed,  among  the 
privileges  which  she  had  won  for  herself,  freedom  of  commerce  with 
the  whole  world,  and  the  universal  elective  franchise.  The  popu- 
lation amounted  now  to  30,000,  and  it  was  esteemed  an  honour  to 
be  a  born  Virginian.  Numbers  of  the  emigrants  of  late  years  had 
been,  as  we  have  seen,  royalist  officers,  men  of  family  and  education, 
and  these,  though  they  still  retained  their  loyalty,  offered  no  impedi- 
ment to  the  free  exercise  of  independent  principles  in  Virginia,  and 
finally  the  newly-adopted  country  superseded  the  old,  and  the  interests 
and  liberties  of  Virginia  became  to  them  dearer  even  than  the  monar- 
chical principles  of  which  they  had  been  the  supporters  in  England, 
'  and  for  their  adherence  to  which  they  had  been  exiles. 

"  God  Almighty,"  says  their  statute-book  of  this  time,  "  hath  vouch- 
safed myriads  of  children  to  this  colony."  Young  Virginians  were 
growing  up  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  Virginia 
was  becoming  the  home  of  patriots. 

"  Labour,"  adds  Bancroft,  summing  up  the  advantages  and 


(1660.)  THE  ONE  BRANCH  OP  INDUSTRY — TOBACCO  PLANTING.      75 

rity  of  the  colony,  "  was  valuable ;  land  was  cheap ;  competence 
promptly  followed  industry.  There  was  no  need  of  a  scramble; 
abundance  gushed  from  the  earth  for  all.  It  was  the  best  poor  man's 
country  in  the  world.  Yet,  as  the  shadow-side  of  this  bright  picture, 
it  must  be  conceded  that  plenty  encouraged  indolence ;  everything 
was  imported  from  England.  The  chief  branch  of  industry,  for  the 
purpose  of  exchanges,  was  tobacco  planting,  and  the  spirit  of  invention 
was  enfeebled  by  the  uniformity  of  pursuit." 


76  HlSTOBY  OJ?   THE  UJSITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  V. 

COLONISATION  OF  MARYLAND. 

THE  second  charter  granted  to  the  London  company  embraced 
an  extent  of  country  200  miles  north  of  old  Point  Comfort, 
thus  including  the  whole  of  the  present  state  of  Maryland.  The 
country  round  the  head  of  the  Chesapeake  was  early  explored,  and  a 
commercial  relationship  established  with  the  natives  whom  Smith 
had  been  the  first  to  visit.  The  hope  of  a  good  trade  in  furs  conti- 
nued to  animate  adventurers  into  these  remote  parts,  and  in  1631, 
"William  Clayborne,  a  man  of  a  resolute  and  enterprising  spirit,  who 
was  destined  to  exercise  a  long-continued  and  disturbing  influence 
on  the  colony,  obtained  a  royal  license  to  trade  with  the  Indians,  and 
to  form  a  settlement  on  Kent  Island. 

Clayborne  had  been  in  the  first  instance  sent  out  by  the  London 
company  as  a  surveyor  to  make  a  map  of  the  country,  and  afterwards 
was  appointed  by  King  James  a  member  of  the  council,  which 
appointment  was  confirmed  by  Charles  I.  From  1627  to  1629  he  was 
employed  by  the  governor  of  Virginia  to  explore  the  source  of  the 
Bay  of  Chesapeake  with  the  adjacent  country,  from  the  34th  to  the 
41st  degree  of  latitude.  By  this  means  he  became  familiar  with  the 
resources  of  the  country  and  the  opportunities  which  it  afforded  for 
traffic  j  and  in  consequence  of  these  representations  a  company  was 
formed  in  England  for  trading  with  the  natives,  the  royal  license 
being  granted  in  Clayborne's  name. 

By  virtue  of  this  royal  license,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  colonial 
commission,  Clayborne  established  a  trading  settlement  on  the  island 
of  Kent,  in  the  very  heart  of  Maryland,  and  another  near  the  mouth 
of  Susquehannah.  Virginia  anticipated  that,  as  commander  of  the 
Bay  of  Chesapeake  and  possessor  of  the  soil  on  both  banks  of  the 


(1622.)       SIR    GEORGE    CALVERT,   AFTERWARDS   LORD    BALTIMORE.       77 

Potomac,  she  should  secure  immense  commercial  prosperity  without 
the  interference  of  a  rival.  But  while  she  was  thus  anticipating  a 
brilliant  future,  the  territory  on  which  her  hopes  were  founded  was 
snatched  from  her,  and  a  new  government  erected  on  her  very 
threshold. 

It  has  been  the  happy  fortune  of  North  America,  that  her  states, 
severally  founded  by  men  of  various  religious  opinions,  origin,  and 
purposes,  have  ever  been  the  asylums  of  the  persecuted.  Men  of 
truth  and  high  principle,  suffering  at  home  from  the  narrowness  of 
state  policy  and  the  bigotry  of  creeds,  fled  hither,  and  here,  accord- 
ing as  their  views  approximated  more  nearly  or  more  remotely  with 
the  broad  spirit  of  Christianity,  succeeded  in  establishing  that  freedom 
of  action  and  opinion  after  which  they  had  vainly  sighed  in  the  old 
countries. 

Among  the  enlightened  men  of  the  age  who  suffered  from  the 
spirit  of  religious  animosity  at  that  time  prevailing  in  England, 
was  Sir  George  Calvert,  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  a  man  whose  mind 
had  been  enlarged  by  travel,  a  member  of  Parliament  for  York,  his 
native  county,  and  who  was  even  advanced  by  his  sovereign  to 
the  honour  of  secretary-of-state.  All  historians  are  agreed  in  com- 
mending his  knowledge  of  business,  his  industry,  and  his  upright- 
ness of  character.  Disgusted  and  distressed  by  the  divisions  and 
contentions  of  the  protestant  church,  he  conscientiously  adopted  the 
catholic  faith,  and  on  the  open  avowal  of  his  conversion  resigned  the 
emoluments  of  office.  King  James,  who  was  at  that  time  on  the 
throne,  and  who  was  never  bitter  against  Catholics,  retained  him, 
however,  in  the  Privy  Council,  and  advanced  him  to  the  dignity  of 
the  Irish  peerage  under  the  title  of  Lord  Baltimore. 

Lord  Baltimore,  who  even  while  secretary-of-state  was  a  member 
of  the  Virginia  company  and  a  powerful  advocate  of  American  colo- 
nisation, had  obtained  in  his  own  name  a  patent  for  colonising  the 
southern  promontory  of  Newfoundland,  hoping  there  to  establish  a 
refuge  for  the  persecuted  Catholics  of  his  native  country.  This 
settlement,  which  was  called  Avalon,  on  which  he  expended  a  large 
amount  of  his  own  private  property,  and  which  he  visited  twice  in 
person,  was  finally  abandoned,  owing  to  the  many  difficulties  against 
which  it  had  to  contend,  partly  from  the  severity  of  the  climate  and 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  sterility  of  the  soil,  and  partly  from  the  hostile  attacks  of  the 
French,  who  were  possessed  of  the  surrounding  country. 

Lord  Baltimore  now  turned  his  thoughts  to  Virginia,  where  the 
climate  was  mild,  the  land  fertile,  and  the  country  beyond  the 
Potomac  as  yet  unoccupied.  In  1632,  therefore,  on  the  dissolution 
of  the  London  company,  and  the  royal  resumption  of  prerogative,  it 
was  not  difficult  for  him,  a  favourite  with  the  monarch,  to  obtain  a 
charter  for  domains  in  that  colony,  which  was  no  doubt  all  the  more 
readily  granted,  as  the  Dutch,  the  Swedes,  and  the  French  were  pre- 
pared to  occupy  the  country. 

This  charter,  according  to  internal  evidence  and  concurrent  opi- 
nion, was  drawn  up  by  Lord  Baltimore  himself,  but  owing  to  his 
death  before  it  received  the  royal  assent,  was  ultimately  made  out  in 
the  name  of  his  son  Cecil.  The  territory  thus  granted  was  comprised 
between  the  ocean  and  the  40th  degree  of  latitude.  The  meridian 
of  the  western  fountains  of  the  Potomac,  the  river  itself  from  its 
source  to  its  mouth,  and  a  line  drawn  due  east  from  Watkin's  Point  to 
the  ocean,  were  the  boundaries  of  this  grant,  which  was  erected  into 
a  separate  province,  under  the  name  of  Maryland,  from  Henrietta 
Maria,  wife  of  Charles  I.  The  country  thus  bestowed  on  Lord  Balti- 
more, his  heirs  and  assigns,  as  absolute  lord  and  proprietary,  was  to  be 
held  by  the  tenure  of  fealty  only,  paying  a  yearly  rent  of  two  Indian 
arrows  and  a  fifth  of  all  gold  and  silver  which  it  might  yield ;  and 
the  charter,  unlike  any  which  had  hitherto  obtained  the  royal  assent, 
secured  to  the  colonists  equality  in  religious  and  civil  rights,  and  an 
independent  share  in  the  legislation  of  the  province.  The  laws  of  the 
colony  were  to  be  established  with  the  advice  and  approval  of  a 
majority  of  the  freemen  or  their  deputies  ;  nor  could  the  authority  of 
the  absolute  proprietary  extend  to  the  life,  freehold,  or  estate  of  any 
emigrant.  "These,"  says  Bancroft,  "were  the  features  which 
endeared  the  proprietary  government  to  the  people  of  Maryland ; " 
and  he  adds,  "  it  is  a  singular  fact,  that  the  only  proprietary  charters 
productive  of  considerable  emolument  to  their  owners  were  those 
which  conceded  popular  liberty.  Lord  Baltimore  was  a  Roman 
Catholic ;  yet,  far  from  guarding  his  territory  against  any  but  those 
of  his  own  persuasion,  as  he  had  taken  from  himself  and  his  successors 
all  arbirary  power  by  establishing  the  legislative  franchises  of  the 


(1632.)  CHARTER   DRAWN   UP   BY   LORD    BALTIMORE.  79 

people,  so  he  took  from  them  the  means  of  being  intolerant  in  reli- 
gion, inasmuch  as,  while  Christianity  was  made  the  law  of  the  land, 
no  preference  whatever  should  be  given  to  sect  or  party." 

To  avoid  dispute  on  the  subject  of  the  fisheries,  all  claim  to  these 
was  expressly  renounced  by  the  charter  ;  Maryland  was  also  carefully 
separated  from  Virginia,  the  necessity  of  which  Lord  Baltimore  had 
clearly  foreseen  from  his  former  visit  to  Virginia,  when  the  oaths  of 
supremacy  and  allegiance  were  tendered  to  him  in  a  form  which x  he, 
as  a  Catholic,  could  not  subscribe ;  now,  therefore,  when  about  to 
establish  his  colony  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Virginia,  he  provided 
against  every  possible  cause  of  contention  with  the  neighbour  state. 
He  also  provided,  as  far  as  was  in  his  power,  against  any  future 
aggressions  of  the  English  monarch,  who  covenanted  in  the  charter, 
by  an  express  stipulation,  "  that  neither  he,  nor  his  heirs,  nor  succes- 
sors, should  ever  set  any  imposition,  custom,  or  tax  whatever,  upon 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province."  Maryland  was  by  this  means 
exempted  from  English  taxation  for  ever. 

"  Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore,"  says  the  historian,  "  deserves  to  be 
ranked  among  the  most  wise  and  benevolent  lawgivers  of  all  ages. 
He  was  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  world  to  seek  for  reli- 
gious security  and  peace  by  the  practice  of  justice  and  not  by  the 
exercise  of  power ;  to  plan  the  establishment  of  popular  institutions 
with  the  enjoyment  of  liberty  of  conscience ;  to  advance  the  career  of 
civilisation  by  recognising  the  rightful  equality  of  all  Christian  sects. 
The  asylum  of  Papists  was  the  spot  where,  in  a  remote  quarter  of 
the  world,  on  the  banks  of  rivers  which  as  yet  had  hardly  been 
explored,  the  mild  forbearance  of  a  proprietary  adopted  religious 
freedom  as  the  basis  of  the  state." 

Lord  Baltimore  having  died,  as  we  have  said,  before  the  charter 
had  passed  the  royal  seal,  his  son  Cecil  Calvert,  who  succeeded  not 
only  to  his  father's  title  and  honours,  but  to  his  liberal  views  and 
enlightened  opinions,  soon  succeeded  in  enlisting  a  sufficient  number 
of  emigrants  for  the  commencement  of  the  colony,  and  these  were 
soon  joined  by  gentlemen  of  fortune  and  enterprise.  The  second 
Lord  Baltimore,  however,  having,  for  reasons  which  are  now  unknown, 
abandoned  his  original  intention  of  going  out  in  person  with  the 
emigrants,  appointed  his  brother,  Leonard  Calvert,  as  his  lieutenant. 


80  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

On  Friday,  the  22nd  of  November,  in  the  year  1633,  Leonard 
Calvert  set  sail  -with  about  200  persons,  mostly  Roman  Catholic 
gentlemen  and  their  servants,  in  a  ship  of  large  burden  called  the 
Ark  and  the  Dove,  together  with  a  pinnace.  They  sailed  by  way  of 
the  "West  Indies,  and  in  the  early  spring  arrived  at  Point  Comfort  in 
Virginia,  where,  by  the  express  orders  of  king  Charles,  they  were 
courteously  received  by  Harvey,  the  governor.  There  also  they  were 
met  by  Clayborne,  who  had  already  done  all  in  his  power,  through 
persons  of  influence  in  England,  to  prevent  the  granting  of  the 
charter,  foreseeing  that  it  might  interfere  with  his  settlements  on 
Kent  Island  and  elsewhere.  He  now  presented  himself  as  a  prophet 
of  evil,  foretelling  the  hostility  of  the  natives,  which  he  had  already 
secretly  fomented. 

Disregarding  all  evil  augury,  the  Ark  and  Dove,  attended  by  the 
pinnace,  ascended  the  Potomac.  Landing  on  an  island,  Calvert 
planted  a  cross,  claiming  the  country  for  Christ  and  England,  and 
having  proceeded,  about  150  miles,  arrived  at  an  Indian  village 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  called  Piscataqua,  the  chief  of 
which  would  neither  bid  him  go  nor  stay,  but  told  him  he 
might  do  as  he  liked.  Calvert,  however,  decided  to  establish  his  first 
settlement  lower  down  the  Potomac,  which  he  descended,  and  enter- 
ing a  river  now  called  St.  Mary's,  above  ten  miles  from  its  junction 
with  the  Potomac,  purchased  the  little  Indian  town  of  Yoacomoco  from 
the  natives,  who  having  suffered  from  the  superior  tribe  of  Susque- 
hannahs  were  now  about  to  desert  it.  Calvert  considered  this  a  good 
situation  for  a  settlement,  and  by  presents  of  cloth,  axes,  hose,  and 
knives,  secured  the  confidence  and  friendship  of  the  natives,  with 
whom  a  treaty  was  entered  into,  by  which  the  English  immediately 
obtained  possession  of  one-half  of  the  town,  the  whole  of  which  was 
surrendered  to  them  after  the  getting  in  of  harvest.  Good  faith  was 
maintained  on  both  sides.  On  the  27th  of  March,  the  Catholics 
came  into  peaceful  possession;  and  now,  at  the  humble  village  of 
St.  Mary,  religious  liberty  found  its  first  real  home,  its  only  safe 
home  in  the  whole  world. 

The  Ark  and  Dove,  fit  emblems  of  their  mission,  anchored  in  the 
harbour.  The  native  chiefs  came  down  to  see  the  new  emigrants  and 
to  establish  leagues  of  amity  with  them  j  all  was  peace  and  security. 


(1634.)  THE  COLONY  OP  MARYLAND — CLAYBORNE'S  TURBULENCE.  81 

The  Indian  women  taught  the  wives  of  the  English  strangers  to 
make  hread  of  maize  corn,  and  the  warriors  of  the  tribes  instructed 
the  men  in  the  mysteries  of  the  chase.  Corn-fields  and  gardens  were 
ready  for  cultivation  ;  no  sufferings  had  to  he  endured,  no  want  was 
apprehended ;  it  seemed  as  if  the  colony  of  Maryland  was  founded  on 
a  hlessing.  Within  six  months  it  had  increased  greatly  both  in 
wealth  and  population. 

Memorable  as  was  the  commencement  of  Maryland,  still  more  so 
was  the  spirit  of  her  institutions.  She  was  the  first  asserter  of  reli- 
gious toleration  in  the  New  World,  and  whilst  religious  persecution 
had  even  been  carried  across  the  seas  to  their  places  of  refuge  by  the 
Puritans,  the  very  men  who  had  fled  thither  to  escape  from  it  in  their 
native  country,  Maryland  bound  her  governor,  by  his  oath  of  office, 
"  neither  by  himself  nor  by  any  other,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  molest 
any  person  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  for  or  in  respect  of 
religion."  Under  these  mild  institutions  and  the  liberal  expenditure 
of  Lord  Baltimore,  who  in  the  first  two  years  of  the  settlement 
expended  no  less  a  sum  than  £40,000  in  advancing  its  interests,  the 
colony  prospered  wonderfully.  Eoman  Catholics,  oppressed  by 
the  laws  of  England,  fled  hither  as  to  their  natural  asylum,  and 
hither  also  came  suffering  Protestants,  fleeing  from  the  intolerance 
of  their  Protestant  brethren. 

For  some  time  harmony,  peace,  and  prosperity  prevailed.  The 
mild  and  wise  institutions  of  the  proprietary  were  conducive  to  the 
interests  of  the  colonists,  and  won  in  return  their  attachment  and 
gratitude.  Every  heart,  excepting  Clayborne's,  was  satisfied,  and 
desired  that  things  should  remain  as  they  were.  Clayborne  from  the 
first  had  rejected  the  claim  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  refused  to  submit 
to  it.  Accordingly,  in  the  sitting  of  the  first  Legislative  Assembly  of 
Maryland,  in  February,  1635,  at  St.  Mary's,  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
state  was  vindicated,  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  Clayborne, 
Nothing,  however,  daunted  by  this  measure,  he  determined  to  make 
good  his  claims  by  force  of  arms.  A  bloody  skirmish  took  place  on 
one  of  the  rivers  of  Maryland ;  several  lives  were  lost ;  Clayborne's 
men  were  defeated  and  taken  prisoners,  and  he  himself  fled  to 
Virginia,  whence,  to  escape  being  given  tip  to  the  governor  of  Mary- 


82  HISTOIIY  OF  TIIE  UNITED  STATES. 

land,  he  was  sent  by  Harvey,  the  governor  of  Virginia,  to  England 
for  trial. 

The  colony  was  well  rid  of  this  troublesome  member,  at  least  for  a 
while ;  he  was  declared  by  the  Assembly  guilty  of  treason,  not  only 
by  endeavouring  to  overthrow  the  government  of  the  proprietary,  but 
by  exciting  the  jealousies  of  the  Indians  against  the  settlers ;  and  his 
property  on  Kent  Island  was  confiscated.  In  England  he  won  at  first 
a  favourable  hearing  from  the  king,  Charles  I. ;  but  on  the  merits  of 
the  case  being  more  thoroughly  investigated,  it  was  decided  that  the 
charter  of  Lord  Baltimore  superseded  all  earlier  licences  of  traffic. 
Clayborne  was  again  defeated,  and  the  claims  of  Lord  Baltimore  fully 
confirmed. 

Men  of  strong  intellect,  ardent  champions  of  popular  liberty,  were, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  founders  of  the  early  American  states,  hence  we 
universally  find  them  not  more  jealous  for  the  possession  and  main- 
tenance of  territory,  than  for  the  establishment  of  principles  of 
democratic  liberty.  In  1639,  therefore,  the  third  annual  General 
Assembly  was  convened  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  "  a  more  con- 
venient form  of  representative  government,"  and  the  people  were 
allowed  to  send  as  many  delegates  to  the  General  Assembly  as  they 
should  deem  proper.  A  declaration  of  rights  was  also  drawn  up ; 
allegiance  was  declared  to  the  English  sovereign,  Lord  Baltimore's 
prerogatives  as  proprietary  were  defined,  and  the  liberties  of  English- 
men confirmed  to  the  inhabitants  of  Maryland.  "  There  was  as  yet,w 
says  our  historian,  "no  jealousy  of  power,  no  strife  for  place. 
Yet,"  adds  he,  "  while  these  laws  prepared  a  frame  of  government 
for  future  generations,  we  are  reminded  of  the  feebleness  and  poverty 
of  the  state,  when  the  whole  people  were  at  that  very  period  obliged 
to  contribute  to  the  setting  up  of  a  water-mill." 

In  the  year  1642,  the  inhabitants  of  Maryland,  from  a  grateful 
sense  of  Lord  Baltimore's  "  great  charge  and  solicitude  in  maintaining 
the  government,  and  protecting  them  in  their  persons,  rights,  and 
liberties,  freely  granted  such  a  subsidy  as  the  young  and  poor  estate 
could  bear."  This  was  a  subsidy  of  fifteen  pounds  weight  of  tobacco 
for  every  person  above  twelve  years  of  age. 

In  the  same  year  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  the  colony  was  again 


(1642.)  INCURSIONS    OP   THE    INDIANS— PURITANISM.  83 

interrupted ;  firstly,  by  the  bordering  Indian  tribes,  who,  alarmed  at 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  colonists,  and  embittered  towards  them  by  the 
suspicions  with  which  the  artful  Clayborne  had  poisoned  their  minds, 
made  divers  warlike  incursions,  causing  the  death  of  some  and  the 
alarm  of  all.  A  fort  was  built  on  the  Patuxent  as  a  defence  against 
the  Susquehannahs,  and  peace  at  length  re-established  on  the  usual 
terms  of  Indian  submission.  A  more  formidable  and  annoying 
enemy  in  the  meantime  made  his  appearance,  this  being  no  other 
than  the  contumacious  Clayborne.  Clayborne,  on  the  breaking  out  of 
civil  war  in  England,  had  allied  himself  with  the  popular  party,  and 
now,  in  the  absence  of  Calvert,  the  governor,  who  was  then  in 
England,  and  in  connexion  with  one  Ingle,  already  convicted  of 
treason  in  the  colony,  took  the  opportunity  of  re-asserting  his  claims 
and  exciting  insubordination  among  the  disaffected.  It  may  appear 
strange,  that,  under  a  form  of  government  so  wise  and  liberal  as  that 
of  Lord  Baltimore,  disaffection  should  exist;  but  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  religious  contentions  of  England  had  been  transported 
to  America,  and  not  even  in  the  Old  World  did  papacy  and  puri- 
tanism  come  to  closer  quarters  than  on  the  soil  of  Maryland.  Whilst 
England  herself  was  convulsed  with  the  birth  of  liberty,  and  whilst 
the  popular  will  was  standing  in  stout  array  against  the  power  of 
the  monarch,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  men  of  America, 
who  had  fled  from  their  native  land  in  the  very  spirit  of  this  conflict, 
would  abate  one  jot  of  it  here.  Besides  this,  the  demand  of  puritan- 
ism  was  fierce  dogmatism,  which  not  even  the  noble  toleration  of 
Lord  Baltimore's  government  could  appease,  nay,  which  it  was  even 
a  virtue  to  oppose. 

England  had  too  much  to  do  at  home  to  care  at  this  time  about  its 
colonies  beyond  the  Atlantic,  and  New  England  and  Virginia  legis- 
lated for  themselves  almost  without  reference  to  the  mother-country ; 
and  with  the  Puritans  the  same  independent  spirit  had  entered 
Maryland.  Whilst  England  defied  her  king,  Maryland  began  to 
question  what  were  the  rights  of  any  human  proprietary,  who  was 
in  fact  but  a  sort  of  petty  sovereign  ;  and  this  question  once  admitted 
into  the  heart  of  the  colony,  served  as  the  leaven  of  disaffection. 

Not  even  the  virtues  of  Lord  Baltimore  could  insure  his  authority 
and  his  rights  against  Puritanism  and  the  spirit  of  democratic  liberty. 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Clayborne  and  Ingle  appeared  in  arms,  and  gained  possession  of  tho 
Isle  of  Kent,  which  was  then  held  by  Giles  Brent,  in  whose  hands  the 
administration  had  been  placed  by  Calvert  on  his  departure.  For 
twelve  months  anarchy  prevailed  throughout  the  colony,  and  the 
records,  being  seized  by  Clayborne  and  Ingle,  were  destroyed.  At 
length  Calvert  returned,  and  by  means  of  an  armed  force  from  Vir- 
ginia subdued  the  insurgents,  though  not  without  considerable  loss. 
Peace  and  order  were  re-established,  and  by  a  wise  clemency  of  the 
government,  an  act  of  amnesty  was  passed,  which,  by  cancelling 
offences,  allayed  the  irritation  of  rebellion. 

The  power  of  the  proprietary  was  once  more  confirmed,  whilst  in 
the  mother-country  monarchy  was  overthrown  and  Puritanism  was 
predominant.  At  this  crisis  the  Roman  Catholic  government  of 
Maryland,  with  that  sagacious  spirit  of  Christian  moderation  which 
marked  all  its  proceedings,  resolved  to  meet  any  approaching  danger 
by  still  further  strengthening  the  law  of  toleration.  A  second  act  for 
religious  freedom  was  placed  on  their  statute-books  in  the  following 
words:  "And  whereas  the  enforcing  of  the  conscience  in  matters  of 
religion  hath  frequently  fallen  out  to  be  of  dangerous  consequences 
in  those  commonwealths  where  it  has  been  practised,  and  for  the 
more  quiet  and  peaceable  government  of  this  province,  and  the  better 
to  preserve  mutual  love  and  amity  among  the  inhabitants,  no  person 
within  this  province  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ  shall  be  in 
any  way  troubled,  molested,  or  discountenanced  for  his  or  her  religion, 
or  in  the  free  exercise  thereof."  Noble  words,  noble  spirit  of  religious 
liberty,  worthy  to  be  spoken  by  the  genius  of  the  New  World  ! 

Years  afterwards,  when  on  some  occasion  it  was  necessary  to  defend 
the  measures  of  Lord  Baltimore,  it  was  declared  that  no  person  in 
Maryland  had  ever  been  persecuted  for  religion,  and  that  the  colonists 
ever  enjoyed  freedom  of  conscience  no  less  than  freedom  of  person  and 
estate.  The  persecuted  both  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia  were 
welcomed  to  equal  liberty  of  conscience  and  equal  political  rights  in 
the  Catholic  province  of  Maryland. 

In  1650  the  legislative  body  was  divided  into  an  upper  and  lower 
house,  the  former  consisting  of  the  governor  and  council,  the  latter  of 
representatives  chosen  by  the  people.  The  strength  of  the  proprie- 
tary, it  was  declared  in  the  General  Assembly,  reposed  "  in  the  affec- 


(1650.)  POLITICAL   TROUBLES   IN  THE    COLONY.  85 

tions  of  his  people,"  and  all  taxes  were  forbidden,  unless  granted  by 
vote  of  the  deputies  of  the  freemen  of  the  province. 

In  the  meantime  Virginia,  as  we  have  already  said  in  the  account 
of  that  state,  having  asserted  its  adherence  to  Charles  II.  on  the 
execution  of  his  father,  parliament  sent  out  commissioners  to  enforce 
the  obedience  of  the  colonies  bordering  on  the  Chesapeake  to  the 
commonwealth,  the  troublesome  Clayborne  being  one  of  these  very 
commissioners.  Maryland,  which  had,  though  Catholic,  already  given 
in  her  allegiance  to  the  commonwealth,  of  course  was  not  included 
among  the  disaffected,  and  Virginia,  as  we  already  know,  yielded 
without  a  blow  being  struck.  The  opportunity,  however,  was  too 
good  to  be  lost.  Clayborne,  glad  of  any  plea  to  carry  arms  into 
Maryland,  again  put  forth  his  claims  to  Kent  Island,  and  Virginia, 
which  had  never  relished  so  fine  a  portion  of  her  territory  being 
taken  from  her,  revived  also  her  claims  to  jurisdiction  beyond  the 
Potomac ;  whilst  Charles  II. ,  angry  with  Lord  Baltimore  for  his 
adhesion  to  the  party  of  the  commonwealth  and  for  his  religious 
toleration,  appointed  Sir  William  Davenant,  the  dramatist,  governor 
in  place  of  Stone,  the  deputy  of  Lord  Baltimore.  Again  anarchy 
prevailed ;  Clayborne  and  his  commissioners  assumed  authority ;  the 
governor  Stone  and  his  officers  were  deposed,  and  only  reinstated  on 
their  submission.  As  to  Sir  William  Davenant,  he  set  sail  with  a 
body  of  refugee  loyalists  from  France,  but  being  met  shortly  after  by 
the  parliamentary  fleet,  was  taken  prisoner  and  carried  to  London, 
where  he  owed  his  liberation  to  the  friendly  mediation  of  Milton, 
then  in  high  favour  with  the  republican  party.  On  the  dissolution  of 
the  Long  Parliament,  from  which  Clayborne  and  the  commissioners 
had  derived  their  power,  Stone  reasserted  the  full  authority  of  the 
proprietary,  which  alarming  the  commission  then  in  Virginia,  Clay- 
borne  appeared  once  more  in  Maryland,  and  by  the  help  of  the 
Puritans  of  Ann  Arundel  county  again  compelled  Stone  to  resign. 
One  William  Fuller  was  appointed  governor,  and  a  new  council 
and  assembly  convened.  The  spirit  of  religious  asperity  and  bigotry 
prevailed ;  and  imitating  Cromwell's  measures  in  England,  all  were 
disfranchised  by  the  assembly  who  differed  from  them  in  religious 
opinion;  Catholics  were  excluded  not  only  from  participation  in 


86  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

government,  but  were  declared  not  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the 
laws  of  Maryland. 

In  January  of  the  following  year,  Stone,  receiving  a  reprimand 
from  Lord  Baltimore  for  so  easily  yielding  to  Clayborne  and  his 
party,  appeared  in  arms  with  a  considerable  force,  and  marched  to 
"  Mr.  Preston's  house  on  the  Patuxent,"  where  the  records  of  the 
colony  were  kept,  which  he  seized,  and  so  proceeded  on  to  Providence, 
as  Ann  Arundel  was  now  called,  where  he  found  the  Puritan  party 
fully  prepared  for  their  reception.  On  March  25th  a  battle  was 
fought,  the  Catholics  advancing  with  the  cry  of  "Hey  for  St.  Mary's !" 
which  was  the  seat  of  the  Catholic  government,  and  the  Puritans, 
whose  numbers  were  inferior  to  those  of  their  enemies,  shouting,  "  In 
the  name  of  God,  fall  on !  God  is  our  strength  \" 

The  Catholics  were  completely  defeated,  about  fifty  were  killed  or 
wounded,  and  the  rest  taken  prisoners ;  of  the  Puritans  but  very  few 
fell.  "  God  did  appear  wonderful  in  the  field  and  in  the  hearts  of  his 
people ;  all  confessing  him  to  be-  the  only  worker  of  this  victory  and 
deliverance,"  wrote  the  Puritan  Leonard  Strong. 

Stone  and  his  officers  were  tried  by  court-martial,  and  he  and  ten 
others  condemned  to  death.  His  life,  however,  was  spared  by  the 
prayers  of  the  enemies'  own  soldiers  and  by  the  petitions  of  the 
women,  says  Mrs.  Stone,  in  her  letter  to  Lord  Baltimore  on  this  sad 
occasion ;  four,  however,  were  shot  in  cold  blood,  "  which,  by  all 
relations  that  ever  I  did  hear  of,"  says  she,  "  the  like  barbarous  act 
was  never  done  among  Christians."  The  Puritan  party  was  now 
dominant  throughout  the  province.  In  this  miserable  state  of  affairs, 
Cromwell  was  appealed  to,  that  he  "  would  condescend  to  settle 
the  country  by  declaring  his  determinate  will."  But  Cromwell, 
though  still  acknowledging  Lord  Baltimore's  claim,  was  unwilling  to 
dispute  the  act  of  hk  own  political  party.  Josiah  Fendall,  who,  with 
the  approbation  of  Cromwell,  was  appointed  governor  by  Lord 
Baltimore,  was  immediately  arrested  by  the  Puritan  party,  and  thus 
Maryland  lay  for  nearly  two  years  the  prey  of  two  contending 
factions. 

On  the  death  of  Cromwell,  in  1658,  the  republican  party,  uncertain 
of  the  turn  which  affairs  might  take  in  England,  agreed  to  a  com- 


(1658.)         THE    DISSENSIONS   IN   THE    COLONY   COMPROMISED.  87 

promise,  and  the  government  of  the  province  was  surrendered  to 
Fendall.  The  terms,  however,  of  their  resignation  show  their  power 
in  the  colony.  These  were,  the  possession  of  their  arms,  an  indemnity 
for  arrears,  confirmation  oi  the  acts  and  orders  of  the  late  Puritan 
assemblies,  and,  strange  enough,  they  especially  demanded  that  the 
proprietary  should  maintain  the  act  of  toleration  by  which  they  had 
gained  a  settlement  in  the  colony,  but  which  they  had  so  signally 
disregarded  while  themselves  in  power. 

The  dissensions  in  the  colony  being  thus  adjusted  by  compromise, 
a  circumstance  occurred  which  proved  that  the  democratic  leaven 
had  leavened  the  whole  lump.  On  the  12th  of  March,  1660,  the  very 
day  before  the  buigesses  of  Virginia  asserted  their  right  to  inde- 
pendent legisiation,  the  representatives  of  Maryland  met  in  the  house 
of  one  Robert  Slye,  and  declared  themselves  a  lawful  assembly  inde- 
pendent of  any  other  power,  refusing  even  to  acknowledge  the  rights 
of  the  upper  house ;  and  Fendall,  on  this  occasion  acting  in  the  spirit 
of  Berkeley  in  Virginia,  bowed  to  the  supremacy  of  the  people ;  and 
the  supreme  people,  hoping  thus  to  secure  a  long  tranquillity,  passed 
an  act  making  it  felony  to  disturb  the  order  which  they  had  estab- 
lished. Nor  was  the  order  disturbed.  On  the  Restoration,  Lord 
Baltimore's  claims  were  fully  confirmed,  and  Philip  Calvert  was 
appointed  governor.  Fendall  was  tried  for  treason,  and  found  guilty, 
but  with  that  clemency  which  had  on  former  occasions  been  evinced 
by  Lord  Baltimore,  a  general  pardon  was  proclaimed  to  him  and  all 
other  political  offenders,  and  mercy  and  peace  once  more  restored  to 
Maryland  their  wonted  blessings. 

Spite  of  all  her  internal  sorrows  and  dissensions,  Maryland  had 
grown  and  prospered.  In  1660  her  population  amounted  to  about 
10,000  j  a  strong  patriotic  sentiment  was  alive  in  the  hearts  of  all — 
Maryland  was  their  country,  the  country  and  the  home  of  their 
children. 


88  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

COLONISATION  OF  MASSACHUSETTS. 

THE  early  unsuccessful  attempts  of  the  Plymouth  company  to  obtain 
a  settlement  in  what  was  then  called  North  Virginia,  have  already 
been  related.  In  the  first  instance,  in  1606,  the  Spaniards  captured 
the  vessel  which  they  had  sent  out ;  in  the  second,  the  hardships  of  a 
severe  winter,  with  a  few  trying  though  by  no  means  extraordinary 
casualties,  discouraged  the  colonists  so  far  that  Popham,  their  presi- 
dent, being  dead,  and  Gilbert  having  by  the  decease  of  his  brother 
become  heir  to  his  property,  they  determined  to  return  to  England 
with  what  speed  they  could,  and  accordingly  the  ships,  which  the 
following  year  visited  the  infant  colony  with  supplies,  carried  them 
back.  Returned  thus  to  England,  they  reported  very  unfavourably 
of  the  country,  and  exaggerated  their  own  sufferings  to  furnish  an 
excuse  for  their  want  of  courage  and  perseverance.  The  Plymouth 
company,  though  much  dissatisfied,  especially  as  the  American  fish- 
eries and  fur  trade  were  now  carried  on  with  great  success,  many 
ships  annually  visiting  those  northern  coasts,  and  occasionally  even 
wintering  there,  were  unable,  after  these  failures,  to  excite  any 
further  public  interest  in  their  schemes. 

In  1614  Captain  John  Smith,  whom  we  have  known  already  so 
favourably  in  Virginia,  and  who  had  long  asserted,  with  a  sagacity 
unusual  in  that  age,  that  colonisation  was  the  true  policy  of  England, 
entered  this  abandoned  field  of  enterprise,  and  with  two  ships,  the 
private  venture  of  himself  and  four  merchants  of  London,  set  sail  for 
the  northern  coast  of  the  lands  included  in  the  Virginia  patent. 
"  Captain  John  Smith,"  says  the  early  chronicle  of  Charlestown,  in 
Massachusetts,  "  having  made  a  discovery  of  some  parts  of  America, 


(1614.)         SMITH'S  VOYAGE  TO  THE  BOSTON  TERRITORY.  89 

lighted,  amongst  other  places,  upon  the  opening  betwixt  Cape 
Cod  and  Cape  Ann.  situate  in  71°  of  west  longitude  and  42°  20'  of 
north  latitude ;  where  by  sounding  and  making  up  he  fell  in  amongst 
the  islands,  and  advanced  up  into  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  till  he 
came  up  into  the  river  between  Mishawum,  afterwards  called  Charles- 
town,  and  Shawmutt,  afterwards  called  Boston,  and  having  made 
discovery  of  the  land,  rivers,  coves,  and  creeks  in  the  said  bay,  and 
also  taken  some  observations  of  the  manners,  dispositions,  and  sundry 
customs  of  the  numerous  Indians,  or  nations  inhabiting  the  same,  he 
returned  to  England,  where  on  his  arrival  he  presented  a  map  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  to  the  king;  and  the  prince,  afterwards  King 
Charles  I.,  called  the  river  Charles  River."  The  name  of  New  Eng- 
land, which  Smith  gave  to  the  country,  was  also  confirmed  by  the 
monarch,  but  the  northern  promontory  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  which 
he  had  called  Tragabigzanda,  in  remembrance  of  the  Turkish  lady 
whose  slave  he  had  been  at  Constantinople,  was  changed  by  Prince 
Charles  into  Cape  Ann,  from  regard  to  his  mother,  and  by  this  appel- 
lation it  is  still  known ;  the  name  of  the  Three  Turks'  Heads  which 
he  gave  to  three  islands  at  the  entrance  of  the  Bay,  has  also  been 
changed,  and  a  cluster  of  islands  which  he  had  called  after  himself  is 
novr  known  as  the  Isle  of  Shoals. 

Smith  having  successfully  accomplished  the  purposes  of  his  voyage, 
set  sail  h  ::neward,  leaving  the  second  ship,  commanded  by  one 
Thomas  Hunt,  to  complete  its  lading  and  follow ;  but,  as  had  been 
so  often  the  case  before,  no  sooner  was  Smith  gone  than  mischief 
befell.  Hunt,  under  pretence  of  trade,  decoyed  four-and-twenty 
Indians  on  board,  and  carried  them  away  to  Malaga,  where  he  sold 
most  of  them  for  £20  a  man  as  slaves,  and  would  have  sold  them  all, 
had  not,  says  Cotton  Mather,  "the  friars  in  those  parts,  learning 
whence  they  came,  took  away  the  rest  of  them,  that  so  they  might 
nurture  them  in  the  Christian  religion."  This  base  action  so  incensed 
the  natives,  that  for  some  time  it  was  dangerous  to  the  English  to 
touch  upon  the  shore ;  nevertheless,  God,  who  frequently  allows  good 
to  be  produced  from  evil,  overruled  this  outrage  to  the  subsequent 
benefit  of  his  people.  Squanto,  one  of  the  poor  Indians,  escaping 
from  bondage,  fled  to  London ;  and  after  five  years  being  restored  to 
his  country,  became  useful  to  the  colonists  as  an  interpreter. 


90  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Encouraged  by  the  commercial  success  of  his  voyage.  Smith  was 
sent  out  in  the  following  year,  still  in  the  employment  of  the  Ply- 
mouth company,  to  establish  a  colony  in  New  England ;  but  through 
the  violence  of  tempests  he  was  compelled  to  give  up  the  endeavour. 
Again  he  went  out,  but  his  crew  mutinied,  and  he  was  finally  cap- 
tured by  French  pirates  and  carried  into  France.  But  the  spirit  of 
this  brave  man  never  forsook  him ;  he  escaped  alone  from  Rochelle  in 
an  open  boat,  and  arrived  in  England,  where  he  devoted  himself  with 
all  that  ardour  which  was  natural  to  his  character  to  excite  an  enthu- 
siasm towards  his  favourite  scheme  of  the  colonisation  of  New 
England.  He  published  a  map  and  description  of  the  country,  and 
visited  in  person  the  gentry  and  merchants  of  the  West  of  England, 
suiting  his  promises  of  success  to  the  character  of  the  classes  whom 
he  addressed ;  to  the  merchant  he  proposed  commercial  enterprise 
and  the  establishment  of  cities,  to  the  nobleman  vast  and  wealthy 
dominion,  and  to  the  lover  of  leisure  and  indulgence  presented  pic- 
tures of  an  Arcadian  life,  with  the  pleasures  of  "angling  and  crossing 
the  sweet  air,"  as  he  himself  words  it,  "  from  isle  to  isle,  over  the 
silent  streams  of  a  calm  sea ;"  but  from  all,  with  a  blameable  want  of 
candour,  he  concealed  dangers  and  difficulties. 

He  succeeded  in  arousing  a  spirit  of  enterprise.  New  plans  of 
colonisation  were  formed,  and  Smith  was  appointed  admiral  of  the 
country  for  life.  So  far  was  comparatively  easy ;  great  difficulties, 
however,  arose  in  the  obtaining  a  charter  for  the  new  undertaking. 
The  London  company,  jealous  of  a  rival,  threw  difficulties  and 
impediments  in  the  way.  It  was  not  till  two  years  had  passed  that 
a  charter  could  be  obtained.  In  November,  1620,  King  James 
granted  what  is  distinguished  among  the  New  England  historians  as 
the  "  Great  Patent,"  by  which  the  whole  of  North  America,  from  the 
40th  to  the  48th  degree  of  north  latitude,  "  excepting  such  places  as 
were  already  possessed  by  any  other  Christian  prince  or  people,"  Avas 
granted  wholly  and  entirely,  with  full  rights  of  jurisdiction,  traffic  and 
settlement,  to  forty  noblemen  and  merchants,  incorporated  as  "The 
Council  established  at  Plymouth,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  for  the 
planting,  ruling,  ordering  and  governing  of  New  England,  in  America." 
Such  a  grant,  which  was  intended  to  comprise  everything,  and  secure 
and  hasten  colonisation,  defeated  its  own  object,  and  led  to  nothing 


(1620.)  THE   PURITANS — PURITANISM   IN   ENGLAND.  91 

but  disputes.  The  English  nation  itself  remonstrated,  through  its 
members  in  the  House  of  Commons,  on  such  an  exercise  of  royal 
prerogative  for  the  benefit  of  private  individuals ;  and  the  French, 
who  had  already  for  seventeen  years  had  possession  of  various 
trading  stations  on  the  coast,  ridiculed  and  defied  this  wholesale 
appropriation. 

God,  however,  in  his  marvellous  providence,  had  other  purposes  in 
view  for  New  England  than  the  profit  of  the  merchant  or  the 
aggrandisement  of  the  nobleman.  As  he  had  sifted  out  the  baser 
elements  by  suffering,  death  and  much  .sorrow  before  the  colonisation 
of  Virginia  was  permitted  to  take  deep  root  and  flourish,  so  now, 
more  memorably  in  the  case  of  New  England,  was  his  arm  stretched 
forth  to  prevent  and  counteract  its  appropriation  by  any  but  those 
for  whom  it  was  intended,  and  who  there  might  remain  for  ages  to 
become  a  purer  and  better  people ; — for  those  who,  though  they  had 
not  yet  attained  to  the  glorious  accomplishment  of  Christianity  in  its 
perfect  law  of  love,  were  yet  the  great  and  shining  lights  of  God's 
truth  at  that  time.  Whilst  therefore  the  national  and  the  private 
companies  were  disputing  about  the  objects  and  spirit  of  the  new 
charter,  the  people  of  God,  persecuted  and  trodden  down  as  they  had 
been  for  ages,  were  following  the  guidance  of  a  new  voice  sounding 
from  the  wilderness,  and,  without  charter  or  royal  licence,  were 
taking  permanent  possession  of  the  soil.  The  Puritans  were  the  true 
colonisers  of  New  England. 

But  before  the  Pilgrims  land  on  Plymouth  Rock  we  must  take  a 
summary  view  of  the  growth  of  puritanism  in  England. 

Henry  VIII.,  when  resolved  to  obtain  his  divorce  from  Catharine 
of  Arragon,  denied  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  insisted  on  his 
clergy  doing  the  same,  and  in  this  measure  puritanism  had  its  rise. 
A  door  was  opened  by  the  king  for  the  admission  of  the  principles  of 
the  Reformation ;  and  though  he  himself  was  never  anything  but  a 
Catholic  in  spirit,  yet  his  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn  and  his  quarrel 
with  the  Pope  gave  the  more  intelligent  portion  of  the  English  peo- 
ple liberty  to  think  and  judge  for  themselves.  The  Bible  was  no 
longer  a  sealed  book  constituting  merely  a  portion  of  the  church 
ceremonial ;  Henry  VIII.  had  caused  it  to  circulate  in  its  English 
translation  among  the  people.  It  was  read  by  all  classes  with  eager- 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ness,  and  the  more  it  was  read  the  more  -was  undermined  the  mere 
traditional  teaching  of  religion.  The  human  mind  hegan  to  think 
and  to  ask  important  questions,  and  amid  this  questioning,  the 
rottenness  and  insufficiency  of  old  systems  became  more  and  more 
apparent.  With  a  new  heart  and  a  new  life,  a  new  and  simpler 
mode  of  religious  instruction  was  requisite ;  this  was  what  the  Bible 
taught  them  to  seek  for,  and  bold  in  the  spirit  of  the  Bible,  it  was 
not  long  before  it  was  demanded.  But  it  was  not  in  Henry's  spirit 
to  grant  what  the  Bible  dictated;  the  reformed  English  Church 
retained  a  hierarchical  constitution  and  nearly  the  whole  Romish 
ceremonial.  Henry  in  his  latter  years  forbade  the  general  reading  of 
the  Scriptures,  limiting  the  privilege  to  noblemen  and  merchants, 
and  died  a  Catholic  in  heart.  But  light  had  been  let  in— the  light  of 
divine  truth  and  knowledge— and  no  human  power  could  henceforth 
wholly  obscure  it. 

The  accession  of  Edward  VI.  favoured  the  establishment  of  pro- 
testantism^n  England.  He  died.  "With  Mary  papacy  was  restored, 
and  all  the  more  virulently  in  consequence  of  the  hold  which 
protestantism  had  taken  in  the  nation.  John  Rogers  and  Bishop 
Hooper,  both  Puritans,  and  many  other  pious  and  enlightened  men, 
suffered  martyrdom.  Burleigh  asserts  that  nearly  400  persons 
perished  by  imprisonment  and  at  the  stake.  The  earnest,  steadfast, 
uncompromising  spirit  of  puritanism  showed  itself  early.  Whilst 
Cranmer  and  others  sought  by  recantations  and  prayers  to  escape  the 
pangs  of  martyrdom,  the  Puritan  made  no  concession,  asked  no 
favour,  but  died  rejoicing  to  be  accounted  worthy  to  suffer  for  Christ's 
sake.  Multitudes  of  the  married  clergy  and  others  fled,  during  this 
terrible  storm  of  persecution,  to  the  continent  of  Europe,  as  many 
others  had  already  done  in  the  previous  reigns ;  and  carrying  abroad 
with  them  their  spirit  of  inquiry  and  controversy,  they  differed  in 
some  points,  and  became  split  into  the  two  sects  of  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists.  At  Frankfort  the  two  parties  had  a  public  quarrel ;  and 
when  the  death  of  Mary  allowed  the  protestant  exiles — most  of  whom 
during  her  reign  had  taken  up  their  abode  among  the  Calvinists  of 
Geneva — to  return  to  their  native  land,  they  brought  home  the 
bitterness  of  their  contention. 
With  Elizabeth,  the  Reformation,  which  had  commenced  in  the 


(1563.)  COMMENCEMENT   OF  ENGLISH  NONCONFORMITY.  93 

reign  of  Edward  VI.,  was  in  some  measure  re-established.  Many 
exiled  Puritans  returned  full  of  hope,  and  with  yet  more  inveterate 
abhorrence  of  papacy  and  papistical  vestures  and  ceremonial,  to  dis- 
cover, however,  that  the  great  queen,  the  champion  of  protestantism, 
was  herself  only  half  reformed,  and  that  every  bias  of  her  character 
and  inclination  was  in  favour  of  royal  prerogative  and  established 
authority.  A  true  daughter  of  Henry  VIIL,  Elizabeth  regarded  her- 
self as  head  of  the  church,  and  ruled  it  with  a  despotic  will. 

In  January,  1563,  a  convocation  of  the  clergy  drew  up  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles;  which,  however,  were  not  confirmed  by  act  of 
parliament  till  nine  years  later.  But  the  measure  for  the  continuance 
of  the  ceremonies,  and  of  the  square  cap  and  the  surplice,  of  which 
the  queen  was  a  resolute  supporter,  was  carried  by  one  vote.  The 
bishops  urged  the  clergy  to  subscribe  the  liturgy  and  the  ceremonies 
as  well  as  the  articles ;  Coverdale,  Fox,  Gilpin,  and  others  refused, 
and  this  was  the  commencement  of  Nonconformity. 

A  great  number  of  conscientious  and  excellent  ministers  were  thus 
excluded  from  their  pulpits.  To  them  these  requirements  of  the  law 
were  rank  papacy,  and  they  would  not  conform.  Some  in  conse- 
quence became  physicians  ;  some  were  received  into  private  families, 
holding  views  similar  to  their  own,  as  chaplains ;  many  fled  to  Scot- 
land or  the  continent,  and  many  others  with  their  families  were 
reduced  to  beggary.  "The  churches,"  says  an  historian,  "were  shut; 
the  public  mind  was  inflamed ;  600  persons  repaired  to  a  church  in 
London  to  receive  the  sacrament ;  the  doors  were  closed,  no  minister 
would  officiate.  The  cries  of  the  people  reached  the  throne;  but 
the  throne  was  inexorable,  and  the  archbishop  preferred  that  his  flock 
should  perish  rather  than  dispense  with  the  clerical  robes  of  the 
Church  of  Rome." 

The  violence  of  persecution  aroused  the  spirit  of  the  persecuted 
tenfold ;  the  press  was  resorted  to  as  a  means  of  defence,  as  well  as 
for  the  propagation  of  opinion,  but  to  little  purpose.  Any  book  or 
pamphlet  reflecting  on  the  present  state  of  affairs  was  seized  and 
burnt,  and  the  author  subjected  to  a  fine  and  imprisonment.  On  this 
the  suspended  ministers  and  their  party  resolved  on  openly  seceding 
from  the  church,  believing  that  as  they  were  not  permitted  to  preach 
nor  to  officiate  "without  idolatrous  geare,  it  was  their  duty  to  break 


94  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

off  from  the  public  church  and  to  assemble  in  private  houses  and 
else\vhere."  They  did  so ;  they  held  their  meetings  in  private  houses 
and  in  fields  and  woods.  One  congregation  was  broken  up  in  Lon- 
don, and  as  many  as  could  be  seized  were  hurried  to  prison.  In  1575, 
ten  men  and  one  woman  were  condemned  to  the  stake ;  the  woman 
recanted ;  eight  of  the  ten  were  banished,  and  two  were  burnt ;  and 
two  others  were  put  to  death,  after  long  and  severe  imprisonment,  for 
circulating  the  tracts  of  the  Brownists. 

The  prisons  were  full  of  Nonconformists  ;  "  they  died,"  says  their 
historian,  "  in  their  dungeons,  like  rotten  sheep,"  from  hunger,  cold 
and  the  noisome  state  of  the  prisons ;  and  three  of  their  ministers, 
Barrow,  Greenwood,  and  Penry,  wrere  executed  at  Tyburn  with 
peculiar  circumstances  of  cruelty.  Nothing  but  the  preserving  power 
of  God  could  have  left  a  remnant  alive. 

Still,  though  silenced  by  law  and  forbidden  to  preach  or  circulate 
their  opinions,  their  views  operated  as  leaven  through  the  whole  mass 
of  society.  Prohibitions,  fines,  imprisonments,  ignominy,  loss  of  pro- 
perty, nay,  even  of  life,  could  not  extinguish  their  zeal.  Their 
works,  produced  at  secret  printing-presses,  were  diffused  through  the 
whole  of  the  land  as  by  invisible  agency.  The  human  mind  had  now 
risen  up  to  do  battle  manfully  for  truth  for  conscience  sake,  with  the 
weapons  of  powerful  argument  and  the  keen  arrows  of  sarcasm  and 
wit,  and  no  might  of  human  oppression  could  overcome  it. 

In  1583,  Grindall  was  succeeded  by  Whitgift,  and  with  such  pre- 
lates as  Whitgift  and  Bancroft,  Elizabeth,  as  she  grew  old,  grew 
more  and  more  intolerant.  "Whitgift,  one  of  the  fiercest  of  persecutors, 
used  to  go  down  on  his  knees  before  the  queen  to  implore  her  not  to 
show  the  slightest  favour  to  the  Nonconformists,  lest  it  should  invali- 
date her  own  infallibility.  Under  his  guidance  she  refused  to  listen 
to  the  milder  councils  of  her  ministers ;  and  the  terrible  Star 
Chamber  and  High  Commission  Court  exercised  a  power  almost  equal 
to  the  Inquisition  in  Spain.  Every  one  was  compelled  to  answer  on 
oath  any  question  proposed  either  against  others  or  themselves.  The 
whole  country  groaned  together ;  and  Burleigh,  remonstrating  but  in 
vain,  declared  that  not  even  the  Inquisition  of  Spain  used  so  many 
questions  to  entrap  then  victims.  Finally  a  law  was  enacted,  that 
Afhoever  above  the  age  of  sixteen  refused  to  g-o  to  church,  attended  a 


(1603,)    JAMES'S  POLICY  TOWARDS  THE  CHUKCH  OP  ENGLAND.        95 

conventicle,  or  denied  the  queen's  supremacy,  should  be  imprisoned 
without  trial  till  they  conformed  and  signed  an  article  of  recantation. 
Refusing  to  sign  this,  they  should  be  banished  for  life,  or  if  refusing 
to  quit  the  nation,  or  returning  without  royal  licence,  should  be  put 
to  death  without  benefit  of  clergy. 

But  not  even  this  terrible  law  could  wholly  effect  its  purpose, 
whatever  ruin  and  misery  it  might  occasion.  There  were  already,  in 
the  counties  round  London  alone,  20,000  stiff-necked  frequenters  of 
conventicles,  who  would  not  bow  down  to  the  Baal  of  conformity. 
Great  numbers  again  fled  to  Holland. 

The  persecutions  of  the  Puritans,  however,  somewhat  abated  before 
the  death  of  Elizabeth,  as  a  change  of  policy  towards  them  was 
looked  for  on  the  accession  of  James,  from  whom  the  puritan  party 
might  even  expect  favour.  But  a  very  short  time  sufficed  to  prove 
how  mistaken  were  these  hopes.  James,  though  brought  up  in  the 
strictest  accordance  with  the  Calvinistic  doctrines  of  the  Scottish 
kirk,  and  though  he  had  thanked  God,  while  in  Scotland,  that  he  was 
at  the  head  of  the  best  and  purest  church  in  the  world,  by  which  he 
would  stand  to  the  death,  and  who  abused  the  English  establishment, 
"with  its  ill-sung  mass,"  as  "wanting  nothing  of  popery  but  the 
liftings ;"  yet  no  sooner  had  he  arrived  in  England,  and  was  met  by 
the  servile  obeisance  of  bishops,  who  knelt  before  him  and  offered  the 
most  abject,  flattery,  than  he  thanked  God  that  he  was  now  the  head 
of  a  church  where  the  bishops  knew  how  to  reverence  a  king.  The 
bishops  rejoiced ;  they  had  dreaded  that  in  James,  England  would 
have  had  a  presbyterian  monarch;  they  found  him  a  shallow  boaster, 
whom  their  flatteries  could  make  the  tool  of  their  will.  Within  nine 
months  of  his  accession  his  key-note  was  "  JSTo  bishop,  no  king;"  and 
at  the  desire  of  his  favourite  bishops,  he  called  a  conference  between 
them  and  the  Puritans,  when  on  the  Puritans  requesting  permission 
to  hold  their  assemblies  for  worship,  the  king  interrupted  them: 
"  You  are  aiming,"  said,  he  "  at  a  Scotch  presbytery ;  there  Jack,  and 
Tom,  and  Will,  and  Dick  shall  meet,  and  at  their  pleasure  censure  me 
and  my  council,  and  all  our  proceedings.  Then  Will  shall  stand  up 
and  say  'it  must  be;'  then  Dick  shall  reply,  'nay,  marry,  but  we  will 
have  it  thus.'  And  therefore  I  repeat  my  former  speech,  and  say,  the 
king  alone  shall  decide."  "  I  will  have  one  doctrine,"  said  he  "  and 


96  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

one  discipline ;  one  religion  in  substance  and  in  ceremony ;"  adding, 
"  that  lie  had  lived  among  such  sort  of  men  as  the  Puritans  were  since 
he  was  ten  years  old,  but  might  say  of  himself  as  Christ  said,  '  though 
I  li ved  among  them,  I  was  none  of  them ;'  nor  did  anything  make  me 
more  detest  their  courses  than  that  they  disallowed  of  all  things 
which  had  been  used  in  popery."  Then,  turning  to  his  bishops,  he 
declared  that,  "by  his  soul  he  believed  Ecclesiasticus  was  a  bishop, 
and  that  a  Scottish  presbytery  agreed  as  well  with  monarchy  as  God 
and  the  devil."  And  of  the  Puritans  he  said,  "  I  will  make  them 
conform,  or  I  will  harry  them  out  of  the  land,  or  else  worse — only 
hang  them,  that's  all ! " 

Bishop  Bancroft  fell  on  his  knees,  and  exclaimed,  "  I  protest  my 
heart  melteth  for  joy,  that  Almighty  God,  of  his  singular  mercy,  has 
given  such  a  king  as  has  not  been  since  the  time  of  Christ ! " 

The  king  closed  the  conference  by  declaring  "that  if  any  would  not 
be  quiet  and  show  their  obedience,  they  were  worthy  to  be  hanged/' 
Bancroft  was  made  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  canons  of  the 
church  now  in  force  were  revised  and  enlarged,  and  it  was  enacted 
that  whoever  should  speak  against  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  or  the 
established  church,  should  be  excommunicated,  put  beyond  the  benefit 
of  law,  and  subjected  to  all  kinds  of  injury  and  injustice.  This  law 
was  enforced  with  bitter  cruelty ;  300  nonconformist  ministers,  many 
of  whom  had  been  pastors  of  their  congregations  for  twenty  or  thirty 
years,  were  very  soon  silenced,  while  hundreds  of  brave  and  con- 
scientious men  were  imprisoned,  fined,  and  driven  into  exile.  Among 
those  who  sought  refuge  in  Holland  was  the  well-known  John 
Robinson,  who  is  generally  considered  to  be  the  father  of  the 
Puritans  in  New  England,  and  thus  the  royal  bigot  and  persecutor 
James  became,  through  the  overruling  of  God's  providence,  the 
means  of  establishing  puritanism  on  the  broad,  free  soil  of  America. 

Through  all  the  oppression  and  bigotry  of  this  and  the  preceding 
reigns,  the  general  intelligence  had,  however,  greatly  increased;  the 
struggle  between  established  authority  and  the  growing  spirit  of 
popular  liberty  was  becoming  more  and  more  determined.  "The 
Bible,"  says  the  author  of  the  "  History  of  Priestcraft,"  "  had  been 
secretly  making  a  mighty  revolution  in  the  popular  mind.  In  the 
troubles  and  sufferings  which  kingS  and  priests  had  inflicted,  it  had 


(1603.)     RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY  TRIUMPHANT    OVER    OPPRESSION.  97 

been  the  secret  and  precious  companion ;  its  poetry  the  most  magni- 
ficent, its  maxims  the  most  profound,  its  promises  the  most  momen- 
tous in  the  world,  were  not  lost  on  the  human  heart ;  its  doctrines 
became  more  clearly  understood,  and  the  spirit  of  man  rose  with  its 
dignifying  knowledge."  Enlightened,  enfranchised,  ennobled  by  the 
glorious  teachings  of  this  divine  book,  the  victims  of  persecution 
became  the  unflinching  promulgators  of  the  truth  and  the  liberty  for 
which  they  suffered.  Oppression,  imprisonment,  fines,  spoiling  of 
goods,  and  death,  all  were  made  the  means  of  still  further  creating  in 
the  human  soul  a  necessity  for  the  liberty  which  was  born  through 
the  Gospel. 
VOL.  i.  5 


98  HISTORY  OF    THE   UNITED    STATES. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS. 

HOLLAND,  which  had  exhibited  a  republican  character  in  its  conflict 
with  catholic  Spain,  and  the  reformed  church  of  which  inclined  to 
the  opinions  of  Calvin,  offered  a  desirable  retreat  for  the  persecuted 
Puritans  of  England ;  "  and  hither,  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1608,"  says 
Thomas  Prince,  the  worthy  chronicler -of  New  England,  "fled  divers 
of  Mr.  Robinson's  church  from  the  north  of  England,  which  had  been 
extremely  harassed;  some  cast  into  prison,  some  burnt  in  their 
houses,  some  forced  to  leave  their  farms  and  families ;"  thither  they 
fled  accordingly,  for  the  purity  of  worship  and  liberty  of  conscience. 

And  now  leaving  England,  we  must  attach  ourselves  to  the  history 
of  our  puritan  exiles,  thus  commencing  their  momentous  pilgrimage; 
and  wherever  it  is  possible  so  to  do,  we  will  take  the  worthy  old 
Thomas  Prince  as  our  guide,  who,  like  the  chronicler  of  a  second 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  puts  down  all  in  good  faith,  even  to  the  con- 
tentions in  the  church  itself.  " This  spring"  (1608),  says  he,  " more 
of  Mr.  Robinson's  church,  through  great  difficulties  from  their 
pursuers,  got  over  to  Holland;  and  afterwards  the  rest,  with  Mr. 
Robinson  and  Mr.  Brewster,  who  are  of  the  last,  having  tarried  to 
help  the  weakest  over  before  them.  They  first  settle. at  Amsterdam, 
and  stay  there  a  year,  where  Mr.  Smith  (another  minister  from 
England)  and  his  church  had  gotten  before  them. 

"  1609.  Mr.  Robinson's  church  having  staid  at  Amsterdam  about 
a  year,  and  seeing  that  Mr.  Smith  and  his  church  was  fallen  into 
contention,  and  that  the  flames  there  were  likely  to  break  out  in  that 
ancient  church  itself,  they  think  it  best  to  remove  in  time,  before  they 
were  any  way  engaged  with  the  same ;  and  valuing  peace  and 


(1617.)  THE  PILGRIM  FATHERS  DETERMINE  TO  REMOTE  TO  AMERICA.        99 

spiritual  comfort  above  other  riches,  they,  with  Mr.  Robinson,  remove 
to  Leyden,  choose  Mr.  Brewster  assistant  to  him,  and  live  in  great 
love  and  harmony  both  among  themselves  and  their  neighbours  for 
above  eleven  years." 

In  1617  the  church  in  Leyden  began  to  think  of  removing  to 
America,  for  several  weighty  reasons ;  the  principal  of  which  were 
"  the  licentiousness  and  temptations  of  the  place ;  many  of  their 
children  having  left  their  parents  to  become  soldiers,  others  taking  to 
foreign  voyages,  and  others  to  courses  leading  to  the  danger  of  their 
souls,  to  the  great  grief  of  their  parents,  and  the  fear  that  religion 
might  die  among  them ;  and  also  from  an  inward  zeal  and  great  hope 
of  laying  some  foundation  for  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  remote 
ends  of  the  earth,  though  they  should  be  but  as  stepping-stones  to 
others."  The  Dutch,  hearing  of  their  intention,  made  them  large 
offers  to  emigrate  to  their  colonies ;  but  they,  preferring  to  go  under 
the  English  government,  after  humble  prayers  to  God,  decided  on  so 
doing,  and  to  settle  in  a  distinct  body  under  the  general  government 
in  Virginia. 

Robinson,  in  the  name  of  the  congregation,  stated  to  the  Virginia 
company  the  wishes  and  feelings  of  the  proposed  emigrants,  to  which 
they  all  subscribed  their  names.  This  letter  comprised  the  whole 
spirit  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  "  1st  (said  they),  We  verily  believe  and 
trust  the  Lord  is  with  us ;  to  whom,  and  to  whose  service,  we  have 
given  ourselves  in  many  trials,  and  that  he  will  graciously  prosper 
our  endeavours,  according  to  the  simplicity  of  our  hearts.  2nd,  We 
are  weaned  from  the  delicate  milk  of  our  mother-country,  and  inured 
to  the  difficulties  of  a  strange  land.  3rd,  The  people  are,  for  the  body 
of  them,  as  industrious  and  frugal,  we  think  we  may  say,  as  any  com- 
pany of  people  in  the  world.  4th,  We  are  knit  together  as  a  body  in 
a  most  strict  and  sacred  bond  and  covenant  of  the  Lord,  of  the 
violation  of  which  we  make  great  conscience,  and  by  virtue  whereof 
we  hold  ourselves  straitly  tied  to  all  care  of  each  other's  good,  and 
of  the  whole.  5th  and  lastly,  It  is  not  with  us,  as  with  other  men, 
whom  small  things  can  discourage,  or  small  discontentments  cause  to 
wish  ourselves  at  home  again." 

The  Virginia  company  saw,  as  well  it  might,  that  these  were  men 
in  whom  was  the  bone  and  sinew  of  steadfast  enterprise,  and  they 


100  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

replied  that  "  their  desire  should  be  forwarded  in  the  best  sort,  that 
might  be  for  their  own  and  the  public  good." 

Another  letter  was  also  written,  stating  faithfully  their  religious 
views,  which  was  intended  to  be  laid  before  the  king  and  privy 
council,  praying  for  the  royal  consent  to  their  liberty  of  conscience 
beyond  the  seas.  Sir  John  Worstenholme,  to  whom  the  letter  was 
sent,  reported  "very  good  news;  for  the  king's  majesty  and  the 
bishops  have  consented  ;  but,"  says  he,  "  for  your  letter  I  would  not 
show  it  at  any  hand,  lest  it  should  spoil  all."  Still,  spite  of  Sir  John 
Worstenholme's  very  good  news,  the  chronicler  records  that  they 
found  it  a  harder  piece  of  work  than  they  expected,  to  obtain  their 
writ  of  the  king  for  liberty  in  religion ;  he  would  only  consent  "  to 
connive  at  them,  and  not  molest  them,  provided  they  would  carry 
themselves  peaceably;  but  to  tolerate  them  by  the  public  authority  of 
his  seal,  that  he  would  not  do." 

Nearly  a  year  after  this  it  is  recorded  that,  "  notwithstanding  the 
great  discouragement  they  met  with  from  the  king  and  bishops,  yet 
casting  themselves  on  the  care  of  Providence,  they  resolve  to 
venture,"  and  accordingly  two  agents  were  sent  to  London,  to  arrange 
all  things  for  their  departure. 

Many  difficulties  still  remained  to  be  overcome,  factions  and  dis- 
turbances having  in  the  meantime  occurred  in  the  Virginia  company. 
At  length,  after  long  attendance,  a  patent  was  granted  and  confirmed 
under  the  Virginia  company's  seal,  being  made  out  to  Mr.  John 
Wincob,  "  a  religious  gentleman,  belonging  to  the  Countess  of  Lin- 
coln, who  intended  at  that  time  to  go  out;  but  Providence  ordained  it 
otherwise."  The  patent  was  sent  over  to  Holland,  together  with  pro- 
posals for  their  transmigration  from  friends  and  merchants  in  London, 
who  were  willing  either  to  go  or  to  adventure  with  them.  "  On 
receiving  these,"  says  the  chronicler,  "  they  first  kept  a  day  of  solemn 
prayer,  Mr.  Robinson  preaching  a  very  suitable  sermon,  strengthening 
them  against  their  fears,  and  encouraging  them  in  their  resolutions ; 
and  then  they  decided  how  many,  and  who  should  go  first,  for  all 
who  were  willing  could  not  be  got  ready  quickly.  The  greater  nim- 
ber  remaining  required  their  beloved  pastor  to  remain  with  them; 
their  elder,  Mr.  Brewster,  accompanying  those  who  should  depart." 

And  now,  on  June  10th,  1620,  a  ship  of  nine  score  tons  being  hired 


(1620.)  THE    SPEEDWELL   AND   THE   MAYFLOWER  LEAVE   LEYDEtf.       101 

in  London,  and  the  ship  in  Holland  being  ready,  they  spent  a  day  in 
solemn  prayer,  for  with  the  Pilgrim  every  important  act  of  life  was 
an  act  of  religion,  and  their  beloved  pastor,  anticipating  their  high 
destiny,  and  the  sublime  doctrines  of  liberty  that  would  grow  out  of 
the  principles  on  which  their  religious  tenets  were  established,  gave 
them  a  farewell  address,  breathing  a  freedom  of  opinion  and  an 
independence  of  authority,  such  as  then  was  hardly  known  in  the 
world.* 

"  I  charge  you/'  said  he,  "  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels,  that 
you  follow  me  no  further  than  you  have  seen  me  follow  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Lord  has  yet  more  truths  to  break  forth  out  of  his 
holy  word.  I  cannot  sufficiently  bewail  the  condition  of  the  reformed 
churches,  who  are  come  to  a  period  in  religion,  and  will  go  no  further 
than  the  instruments  of  their  reformation.  Luther  and  Calvin  were 
great  and  shining  lights  in  their  times,  yet  they  penetrated  not  into 
the  whole  council  of  God.  I  beseech  you,  remember  it;  'tis  an  article 
of  your  church  covenant — that  you  be  ready  to  receive  whatever  truth 
shall  be  made  known  to  you,  from  the  written  word  of  God." 

On  the  21st  of  July,  the  Pilgrims  left  Leyden,  being  accompanied 
by  their  brethren  as  far  as  Delft  harbour,  where  many  met  them  from 
Amsterdam,  to  take  leave  and  see  them  depart ;  and  early  the  next 
morning,  "after  a  night  spent  in  friendly  and  pleasant  Christian 
converse,  the  wind  being  fair,  they  went  on  board,  their  friends 
accompanying  them,  and  Robinson  and  they  who  were  with  him 
falling  down  on  their  knees,  he  commended  them  with  watery  cheeks 
and  most  fervent  prayer  to  God;  then  with  mutual  embraces  and 
many  tears  they  took  their  leave,  and  with  a  prosperous  wind  arrived 
at  Southampton,  where  they  found  the  larger  ship  from  London,  with 
the  rest  of  their  company,  waiting  for  them." 

On  the  5th  of  August,  the  two  ships,  the  Speedwell  and  Mayflower, 
set  sail  from  Southampton,  but  had  not  proceeded  far  before  the 
smaller  vessel,  belying  her.name,  proved  leaky,  and  both  returned  to 
Dartmouth  for  her  repair.  Again  they  weighed  anchor,  and  having 
advanced  about  one  hundred  leagues  beyond  the  Land's-End,  the 
captain  of  the  Speedwell,  either  having  lost  courage  or  the  ship  being 

*  Bancroft. 


102  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

really  unseaworthy,  declared  that  they  must  return  or  sink.  They 
returned  to  Plymouth,  and  however  grievous  and  discouraging  it  was, 
determined  to  part  with  the  ship  and  all  those  whose  hearts  failed 
them,  and  taking  in  the  rest,  with  such  provisions  as  they  could  well 
stow  in  the  larger  vessel,  resolved  to  proceed  on  the  voyage  alone. 

After  another  sad  parting  the  Mayflower  again  set  sail,  having  on 
board  101  souls,  not  alone  resolute  men,  but  brave-hearted  women, 
their  wives,  some  far  advanced  in  pregnancy,  children  and  infants. 
A  richer  freight,  fraught  with  more  momentous  consequences  to 
humanity,  never  crossed  the  ocean. 

Midway  on  the  Atlantic  they  encountered  fierce  storms,  which  so 
much  damaged  the  ship,  that  their  arrival  on  the  other  side  seemed 
hardly  possible.  "  But  a  passenger  having  brought  a  great  iron 
screw  from  Holland,  they  with  it  raised  the  beam  into  its  place,  and 
then,  committing  themselves  to  the  Divine  will,  proceeded." 

On  the  10th  of  November,  after  a  voyage  of  sixty-three  days,  they 
entered  the  harbour  of  Cape  Cod,  when,  falling  on  their  knees  they 
blessed  God  for  having  brought  them  safely  across  the  great  waters. 
Far-seeing  and  prudent  as  well  as  religious  in  all  their  actions,  and 
in  order  to  avoid  any  after-dissatisfaction,  they  did  not  leave  the  ship 
until  they  had  formed  themselves  into  a  body-politic,  by  a  solemn  con- 
tract, to  which  they  set  their  hands.  "  In  the  name  of  God,  amen," 
says  this  remarkable  document,  the  register  of  the  birth  of  popular,  con- 
stitutional liberty  in  the  New  World,  "  we,  whose  names  are  under- 
written, the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign  Kiwg  James,  having 
undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  advancement  of  the  Christian 
faith,  and  honour  of  our  king  and  country,  a  voyage,  to  plant  the 
first  colony  in  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do,  by  these  presents, 
solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  one  of  another, 
covenant  and  combine  ourselves  together  into  a  civil  body-politic,  for 
our  better  ordering  and  preservation,  and  furthering  of  the  ends 
aforesaid ;  and  by  virtue  hereof,  to  enact,  constitute  and  frame,  such 
just  and  equal  laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions  and  offices,  from 
time  to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  convenient  for  the  general 
good  of  the  colony.  Unto  which  we  promise  all  due  submission  and 
obedience." 

This  instrument  being  signed  by  forty-one  persons  as  representa- 


(1620.)         THE    FIRST   LANDING   OF   THE   PILGRIM   FATHERS.  103 

lives  of  their  families  and  descendants,  John  Carver,  "  a  pious  and 
well-approved  gentleman,"  was  chosen  their  governor  for  the  first 
year. 

It  was  the  original  intention  of  the  emigrants  to  establish  them- 
selves in  the  district  of  Virginia,  hut  stress  of  weather,  or  the  igno- 
rance of  the  pilot,  or  as  some  say  the  treachery  of  the  captain  of  the 
Mayflower,  who  was  bribed  by  the  Dutch  to  take  the  vessel  north  of 
their  plantation,  or  more  probably  the  overruling  hand  of  Providence, 
they  now  found  themselves,  at  the  commencement  of  winter,  on  a 
bleak,  barren  and  unknown  coast,  which  the  inclement  season  forbade 
them  to  leave. 

On  Saturday,  the  13th  of  November,  the  "people  went  ashore  to 
refresh  themselves,  the  whales  playing  round  about  them ;  and  they 
being  obliged  to  wade  a  bowshot  or  two  to  get  to  land,  which  was 
covered  with  snow,  and  the  weather  being  freezing,  many  took 
grievous  colds  and  coughs  which  ere  long  caused  their  death." 
Death  was  their  welcome  to  this  dreary  coast,  which  thus  was  early 
hallowed  by  the  graves  of  their  friends.  After  resting  on  the 
sabbath-day,  sixteen  of  their  company  again  went  on  shore,  well 
armed,  to  search  for  a  convenient  place  of  settlement.  Many  days 
were  thus  spent  to  no  purpose,  during  which  they  suffered  greatly, 
lodging  in  the  woods  and  travelling  over  dreary  country  among 
Indian  graves,  into  which  they  dug,  and  finding  several  baskets  full 
of  Indian  corn,  carried  them  away  with  them,  and  this  served  as 
seed-corn  for  the  next  harvest." 

On  the  27th  they  proceeded  into  Cape  Cod  Bay;  again  landed, 
but  it  blew,  snowed  and  froze  all  day  and  night ;  the  ground  was 
hard  frozen  and  covered  many  inches  deep  with  snow ;  they  were 
tired  with  travelling  up  and  down  the  steep  hills  and  valleys ;  they 
dug  in  divers  places,  "  but  found  no  more  corn,  nor  any  thing  else 
but  graves."  What  an  omen  this  for  the  superstitious,  if  there  were 
any  such  among  them!  Two  Indian  wigwams  they  saw,  bat  no 
natives ;  and  thus,  with  nothing  comfortable  to  relate,  they  returned 
on  the  1st  of  December  to  their  ship.  In  the  midst  of  these  dreary 
prospects  it  is  recorded  that  Mrs.  Susanna  White  was  delivered  of  a 
son,  the  first-born  of  European  parentage  in  New  England.  He  was 
called  Peregrine,  and  lived  to  be  eighty -four.  In  the  meantime  death 


104  HISTORY  OF    THE  UNITED  STATES. 

was  busy  in  the  little  company,  and  the  next  entry  after  this  birth 
records  four  deaths. 

On  the  6th  of  December  the  shallop  was  again  sent  out,  with  ten 
of  their  principal  men,  to  sail  round  the  bay  and  discover,  if  possible, 
a  better  place  for  a  settlement.  "  The  weather  was  still  intensely 
cold,  and  the  spray  of  the  sea  froze  on  them  till  their  clothes  looked 
as  if  they  were  glazed,  and  felt  like  coats  of  iron."  Reaching  the 
bottom  of  the  bay,  they  saw  at  night  the  smoke  of  Indian  fires  at 
four  or  five  miles  distance.  The  next  day  some  of  their  number 
landed,  travelled  along  the  shore,  and  again  found  graves  and 
deserted  wigwams,  but  neither  saw  any  natives  nor  yet  any  place  that 
they  liked.  The  next  morning  they  rose  betimes,  and  their  prayers 
being  ended,  day  dawning  and  the  tide  high,  they  heard  "  a  great 
and  strange  cry,"  the  Indian  war-whoop,  which  was  followed  by  a 
flight  of  arrows ;  on  the  discharge  of  their  muskets,  however,  the 
Indians  fled,  after  which,  returning  thanks  to  God,  they  entered  their 
shallop  and  pursued  their  course.  In  the  afternoon  a  fearful  tempest 
overtook  them,  which  increased  as  the  day  wore  on,  and  their  pilot 
having  mistaken  his  course,  "  they  were  nearly  cast  away,  when  the 
providence  of  God  showed  a  fair  sound  before  them,  and  though  it 
was  very  dark  and  rained  hard,  they  lay  to,  part  went  on  shore,  spite 
of  danger  from  the  savages,  and  after  much  difficulty  kindled  a  fire." 

As  the  morning  dawned,  the  place  was  found  to  be  a  small  secure 
island.  "  And  this  being  the  last  day  of  the  week,  they  here  dried 
their  stuff,  fixed  their  pieces,  rested,  and  returned  thanks  to  God  for 
their  many  deliverances ;  and  on  the  following  day  kept  here  their 
Christian  sabbath." 

Early  on  Monday  morning  they  landed,  their  faith  fixed  on  the 
Rock  of  Ages,  and  crossed  the  rocky  threshold  of  that  great  land 
which  was  to  receive  from  them  an  imperishable  impress.  And  long 
as  America  stands  will  its  people  regard  the  rock  which  then  received 
their  footsteps  as  the  altar  and  bulwark  of  religion  and  liberty.  Man 
is  often  unconscious  of  the  sublimity  of  his  actions ;  so  was  it  now. 
God  had  guided  the  Pilgrims  thither ;  their  home  was  not  to  be  in 
the  milder  climate  of  Virginia,  where  the  affluent  shores,  laughing 
with  the  abundance  of  fruit  and  flowers,  might  welcome  them  in  the 
glory  of  summer ;  they  were  carried  northward,  in  the  inclemency  of 


(1621.)    THE  SETTLEMENT  OP  NEW  PLYMOUTH  FOUNDED.        105 

winter,  to  an  iron-bound  coast ;  their  landing  was  on  a  barren  rock, 
and  the  very  harvests  of  their  future  years  were  reaped  from  corn 
dug  out  of  Indian  graves.  They  were  to  be  the  forefathers  of  a  race 
pure  in  life,  steadfast  in  principle,  sincere  in  religion ;  their  human 
virtues  were  here  called  forth  by  their  mutual  sufferings ;  their 
courage  and  perseverance  tested  by  the  severest  hardships  ;  their 
faith  in  God  assured  by  the  overruling  of  his  providence  and  the 
continuance  of  his  mercies.  Such  and  so  high  was  the  destination  of 
the  Pilgrims,  who  now  marching  inland,  found  divers  corn-fields  and 
running  brooks,  and  who,  eight  days  later,  the  Mayflower  being 
safely  harboured,  still  further  examined  the  coast,  again  finding 
"  neither  wigwam,  Indian,  nor  navigable  river,  but  brooks  of  sweet, 
fresh  water  running  into  the  sea,  with  choice  land  formerly  possessed 
and  planted." 

On  the  20th,  after  still  further  examination,  they  decided  to  settle 
"  on  the  mainland  on  a  high  ground  facing  the  bay,  where  corn  had 
been  planted  three  or  four  years  before,  a  sweet  brook  running  under 
the  hill,  with  many  delicate  springs."  Here  they  commenced  build- 
ing, frequently  interrupted  by  storms  of  wind  and  rain,  many  of 
them  "  ill  of  grievous  colds  and  the  great  and  many  hardships  they 
had  endured,  and  amid  death  and  terror  of  the  Indians.  And  here 
on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  being  Lord's  Day,  the  Sabbath  was  kept 
for  the  first  time  in  the  place  of  their  building,  and  the  name  of 
Plymouth  given  to  the  settlement,  in  grateful  memory  of  the  Chris- 
tian friends  they  found  at  Plymouth  in  England  the  last  time  they 
left  their  native  land." 

In  March,  it  is  recorded  that  "  a  south  wind  brought  fine  weather, 
and  that  the  birds  sang  in  the  woods  most  pleasantly ; "  but  the  sun 
shone  and  the  birds  sang  above  many  graves.  Of  the  forty-one  who 
signed  the  '*  solemn  compact "  before-mentioned  on  board  the  May- 
flower, twenty  alone  survived ;  the  living  were  scarcely  sufficient  to 
bury  the  dead ;  the  hale  to  attend  to  the  sick.  Among  those  who 
died  thus  early,  were  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men;  the 
excellent  John  Carver,  whom  they  had  by  mutual  consent  appointed 
to  be  their  governor,  had  on  his  first  landing  lost  a  son,  and  soon 
after  the  Mayflower  took  her  departure  for  England,  he  himself  was 
carried  off  suddenly,  and  his  wife,  broken-hearted,  did  not  long  survive. 

5* 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

As  spring  advanced  and  the  general  sickness  abated,  the  hardships 
of  want  had  yet  to  be  encountered.  In  the  autumn  of  the  following 
year  their  numbers  were  increased  by  fresh  emigrants,  who  came 
unprovided  with  supplies,  and  the  colony  for  six  months  had  to  sub- 
sist on  half  allowance.  "  I  have  seen  men,"  says  Winslow,  "  stagger 
by  reason  of  faintness  for  want  of  food."  In  the  next  July  we 
hear  that  their  number  was  about  one  hundred  persons,  all  in  health, 
"  that  is  to  say,  free  from  sickness,  though  not  weakness ;"  they  had 
nearly  sixty  acres  of  corn  planted,  besides  well-furnished  gardens. 
Unfortunately,  however,  a  number  of  emigrants  who  stayed  some 
time  with  them,  proved  to  be  "  an  unruly  company,  who  exceedingly 
wasted  and  stole  their  corn,  and  secretly  reviled  them,"  and  their 
crop  proving  scanty,  a  famine  would  have  ensued  but  for  "  an  unex- 
pected Providence  "  which  sent  a  ship  into  their  harbour,  from  which 
they  bought  knives  and  beads,  and  thus  were  able  to  trade  with  the 
Indians  for  corn  and  beaver.  Nor  were  their  sufferings  from  want  of 
short  duration.  In  the  third  year  of  their  settlement,  their  want  of 
food  was  so  great  that  they  "  knew  not  at  night  where  to  find  a  bit 
in  the  morning,"  and  for  three  or  four  months  together  had  neither 
bread  nor  corn,  and  having  but  one  boat  left,  six  or  seven  of  their 
company  took  it  by  turns  to  go  out  and  fish,  never  returning  without 
a  supply,  though  they  might  remain  five  or  six  days  out ;  and  when 
the  supply  was  short,  the  remainder  dug  shell-fish  from  the  sands  for 
sustenance.  And  thus  they  lived  through  the  summer,  now  and  then 
getting  a  deer  from  the  woods,  and  in  the  winter  helping  out  with 
fowl  and  ground-nuts.  In  the  midst  of  this  season  of  want  arrived  a 
ship  from  England,  bringing  out  many  of  their  old  friends  and 
various  of  the  wives  and  children  of  those  who  already  were  here, 
"  and  the  best  dish/'  writes  the  simple  chronicler,  "  that  we  could 
present  them  with,  was  a  lobster  or  piece  of  fish,  without  bread  or 
anything  else  bat  a  cup  of  fair  water."  When  these  passengers, 
says  he,  "  saw  our  poor  and  low  condition,  they  were  dismayed  and 
full  of  sadness,"  adding  that  the  "  long  continuance  of  our  spare  diet, 
and  our  labours  abroad,  had  somewhat  abated  the  freshness  of  our 
complexion."  Yet  through  all  their  sufferings,  their  faith  in  the 
providence  of  God  never  failed  them. 

At  the  risk  of  prolonging  this  portion  of  our  history  too  far,  we 


(1621.)  SUFFERINGS  AND   LABOURS    OF  THE    COLONISTS.  107 

must  be  allowed  to  make  two  further  extracts  from  their  chronicle. 
Spite  of  their  hopes  of  a  good  harvest  from  the  promising  appearance 
of  their  sixty  acres  of  corn-land  in  May,  by  the  month  of  July  the 
corn  had  withered  in  the  blade  and  stalk ;  "  their  hopes  were  over- 
thrown, and  their  joy  turned  into  mourning,  besides  which  a  ship, 
which  was  expected  with  supplies  from  England,  after  long  waiting 
for,  was  a  wreck  far  out  at  sea."  The  most  courageous  were  now 
disheartened,  and  by  public  authority,  a  day  was  appointed  for 
humiliation  and  prayer,  and  the  seeking  of  the  Lord  in  their  distress. 
And  a  speedy  answer,  say  they,  "  was  given,  to  our  own  and  the 
Indians'  admiration.  For  though  in  the  former  part  of  the  day  it 
was  very  close  and  hot,  without  a  cloud  or  sign  of  rain,  yet  towards 
evening,  before  the  exercise  was  over,  clouds  gathered,  and  the  next 
morning  distilled  such  soft  and  gentle  showers  as  gave  cause  of  joy 
and  praise  to  God.  Softly  fell  the  rain,  without  wind  or  violence  for 
fourteen  days,  and  the  corn  and  other  fruits  revived  so  as  was  won- 
derful to  see,  and  the  Indians  were  astonished  to  behold ;  and  there 
was  a  joyful  prospect  of  abundant  harvest." 

Similar  in  spirit  to  this  is  the  record  in  the  "  Charlestown  Chron- 
icle," seven  years  later.  "  Now,  as  the  winter  came  on,  provisions 
began  to  be  very  scarce,  and  the  people  were  necessitated  to  live 
upon  shell-fish,  and  ground-nuts,  and  acorns,  and  these  got  with  much 
difficulty  in  the  winter  time.  Upon  which  people  were  very  much 
tried  and  discouraged,  especially  when  they  heard  that  the  governor 
himself  had  the  last  batch  of  bread  in  the  oven ;  and  it  was  believed 
that  the  ship  sent  to  Ireland  for  provisions  was  cast  away  or  taken 
by  pirates.  But  God,  who  delights  to  appear  in  great  straits,  did 
work  marvellously  at  this  time  ;  for  before  the  very  day  appointed  to 
seek  the  Lord  by  prayer  and  fasting  in  the  month  of  February,  the 
ship  came  in  laden  with  provisions."  Mather  relates  of  this  incident, 
"  that  Winthrop,  the  governor,  was  distributing  the  last  handful  of 
meal  to  a  poor  man,  distressed  by  the  wolf  at  the  door,  when  at  that 
instant  they  espied  a  ship  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbour,  laden  with 
provisions  for  all.  Upon  which  occasion  the  day  of  fast  was  changed, 
and  ordered  to  be  kept  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving."  It  is  in  beautiful 
commemoration  of  some  such  remarkable  incident  as  this  that  Thanks- 
giving Day  is  still  held  annually  throughout  the  New  England  States. 


108  HISTOEY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  system  of  common  property,  which  had  at  first  been  established 
in  the  colony,  not  being  found  to  work  well,  was  discontinued ;  and 
in  the  spring  of  1624,  a  little  land  was  apportioned  to  each  settler, 
which  was  soon  well  cultivated ;  for  "  now  even  women  and  children 
worked  in  the  field ; "  corn,  therefore,  so  far  from  being  scarce, 
formed,  in  a  short  time,  a  profitable  article  of  commerce  with  the 
Indians,  who  bartering  their  beaver  and  other  skins  with  the  colonists 
for  corn,  furnished  them  with  the  means  of  lucrative  traffic  with  the 
mother-country. 

The  spot  to  which  Divine  Providence  guided  the  Pilgrims  had,  as 
if  in  preparation  for  them,  been  depopulated  by  pestilence  only  a  few 
years  before ;  the  land  had  the  advantage  of  former  cultivation,  and 
there  were  no  inhabitants  to  dispute  with  them  possession.  The  dis- 
tant smoke  of  their  fires,  and  occasional  hostile  demonstrations,  indi- 
cated that  Indians  were  in  the  vicinity ;  and  in  order  to  be  prepared 
for  whatever  danger  might  occur,  the  settlers  very  soon  assumed  a 
military  organisation ;  Miles  Standish,  one  of  the  bravest  of  their 
company,  being  appointed  their  captain.  The  Indians,  however,  were 
by  no  means  hostilely  disposed. 

On  the  contary,  in  the  month  of  March,  three  months  only  after 
their  settlement,  an  Indian  marched  boldly  into  their  little  town  of 
Plymouth,  and  astonished  them  by  exclaiming,  "  Welcome,  English- 
men !  Welcome ! "  He  was  Samosit,  chief  of  the  tribe  of  Wam- 
panoags,  who  inhabited  the  country  at  about  five  days'  journey 
from  the  coast,  and  who  had  learned  a  few  words  of  English  from 
English  fishermen  who  frequented  it ;  and  now  in  the  name  of  his 
nation  he  bade  them  welcome  to  the  soil  which  there  were  no 
Indian  occupants  to  claim.  Samosit  was  hospitably  treated,  and 
again  returned  accompanied  by  Squanto  the  Indian,  who,  having 
in  1614  been  kidnapped  by  Hunt,  had  escaped  from  Spain  to 
England,  where  he  lived  some  years.  An  amicable  and  easy  inter- 
course was  thus  established  with  the  Indians.  From  him  they 
learned  that  Masassoit,  the  greatest  of  the  Indian  sachems  or  kings, 
was  at  that  very  time  advancing  with  his  brother  and  a  great  com- 
pany to  visit  them. 

Preparations  were  made  to  receive  this  great  Indian  chief,  with 
such,  respect  as  the  state  of  the  colonv  permitted.  Two  knives,  a 


(1021.)  RELATIONS   WITH   THE   INDIANS.  109 

copper  chain  with  a  jewel  in  it,  were  presented  to  him;  and  to  his 
brother  a  knife  and  a  jewel,  with  a  pot  of  strong  water,  some  biscuit 
and  butter.  Speeches  were  mutually  made,  refreshments  partaken 
of,  and  finally  a  league  of  amity  formed,  which  was  inviolably 
observed  for  above  fifty  years. 

The  first  marriage  in  the  colony  was  solemnised  on  the  12th  of 
May. 

Bradford,  who  on  the  death  of  Carver  had  been  appointed  governor 
of  the  colony,  shortly  after  the  visit  of  Masassoit,  sent  two  of  the 
colonists,  Winslow  and  Hopkins,  with  Squanto  as  their  guide,  to 
explore  the  country  and  confirm  the  league  of  amity.  They  found 
the  country  still  almost  depopulated ;  they  passed  through  fine  old 
corn-fields  and  meadows,  but  there  were  neither  cattle  nor  inhabitants ; 
heaps  of  bones  lay  where  had  dwelt  and  died  the  former  inhabitants. 
They  were  kindly  received  by  Masassoit,  at  his  residence  at  Poka- 
noket,  forty  miles  from  Plymouth. 

The  English  having  thus  secured  the  friendship  of  Masassoit,  other 
sachems  sought  their  alliance  also,  and  a  powerful  chief,  who  threat- 
ened them  with  hostilities,  was  compelled  to  sue  for  peace. 

In  1622,  a  colony  of  sixty  persons,  the  "  unruly  company  "  already 
mentioned,  having  finally  settled  at  Weymouth,  the  first  colony  in 
Boston  harbour,  Were  soon  reduced  to  great  want ;  and  having  ex- 
cited the  Indians  by  their  injustice  and  violence,  a  plot  was  formed 
utterly  to  destroy  them.  The  execution  of  this  was,  however,  pre- 
vented by  Masassoit,  who  being  ill,  and  as  was  reported  at  the  point 
of  death,  recovered  in  consequence  of  medicines  administered  by 
Winslow,  who  had  been  sent  from  Plymouth  to  visit  him.  In  grati- 
tude for  this  kind  service,  he  revealed  the  plot  of  the  Massachusetts 
Indians  against  the  Weymouth  colony  ;  and  governor  Bradford  sent 
out  Standish  with  eight  men,  to  apprise  them  of  their  danger,  and 
to  aid  them  in  opposing  it.  The  colony,  saved  by  the  intrepidity 
of  Standish,  was,  after  this,  soon  dispersed,  some  joining  the  people 
of  Plymouth,  and  the  rest  returning  to  London.  The  victory  of 
Standish  was  very  decisive,  and  inspired  the  Indians  with  great 
terror.  As  a  peace-offering  they  afterwards  despatched  a  small  boat, 
laden  with  presents,  to  the  governor  of  Plymouth,  but  it  was  wrecked 
and  three  of  its  crew  drowned,  which  still  further  impressed  the 


110  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

minds  of  the  savages.  They  recalled  the  prediction  of  one  of  their 
older  chiefs,  and  declared  that  the  God  of  the  English  was  angry 
•with  them,  and  that  the  destruction  of  their  nation  was  at  hand. 
When  the  good  pastor  Robinson  heard  of  this  slaughter  of  the 
Indians,  he  wrote  to  his  friends  in  great  sorrow  :  "  Oh  how  happy  a 
thing  it  would  have  been  if  you  had  converted  some  before  you 
killed  any." 

The  settlement  of  Plymouth  proving  but  a  poor  investment  of 
capital  to  the  London  merchants,  who  had  embarked  in  it  as  a 
mercantile  speculation,  was  soon  not  only  disregarded  by  them,  but  a 
trading  vessel  was  sent  out  to  their  shore,  the  object  of  which  was  to 
compete  with  them  in  their  trade  with  the  Indians.  On  this,  Winslow 
was  sent  over  to  London,  to  purchase  for  himself  and  seven  others 
the  entire  shares  of  the  London  adventurers.  The  purchase  was 
made,  and  six  years'  monopoly  of  trade  with  the  Indians  freed  the 
colony  of  its  burdens. 

Plymouth  now  began  to  flourish ;  the  land  was  equitably  divided  j 
each  man  laboured  for  himself  and  his  family,  burdened  neither  by 
debt  to  foreign  usurers,  nor  having  to  provide  for  "  quarter-day." 
Their  government  was  a  pure  democracy ;  each  male  inhabitant  had 
a  vote,  the  governor  had  two.  Admirable  and  loyal  as  was  the 
conduct  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  and  deep  root  as  it  had  imme- 
diately taken  in  the  soil  to  which  the  Indians  themselves  had  made 
them  welcome,  they  found  it  impossible  to  obtain  a  charter  from 
King  James.  They  possessed,  therefore,  according  to  English  law, 
no  right  to  assume  a  separate  jurisdiction.  "  It  was,"  says  Bancroft, 
"  the  virtues  of  the  colonists  alone  which  gave  them  stability." 

The  progress  of  population  was  slow,  nevertheless  their  enterprise 
took  a  wide  range.  They  were  soon  possessed  of  Cape  Ann ;  they 
had  an  extensive  domain  on  the  Kennebec,  and  a  settlement  on  the 
Connecticut.  Numbers  of  their  brethren  followed  them  from  Leyden  ; 
but  their  excellent  pastor  Robinson,  like  Moses  himself,  was  not  per- 
mitted to  enter  the  land  of  promise.  He  died  at  Leyden  in  1625,  to 
the  great  grief  of  the  Pilgrims,  who  had  not  appointed  a  minister  for 
their  church,  Elder  Brewster  merely  officiating  until  he  should  arrive 
and  assume  the  ministry.  His  wife  and  children,  with  others,  after- 
wards emigrated. 


(1630.)          GRADUAL  EISE  OF  NEW  PLYMOUTH.  Ill 

Ten  years  from  its  first  establishment,  New  Plymouth  was  pos- 
sessed of  only  300  inhabitants.  It  had  grown  like  the  oak  and 
the  teak  tree,  slowly,  but  it  was  firm  as  iron  to  the  very  core. 
Religious  liberty  was  the  purpose  of  the  first  settlers,  and  they 
desired  no  increase  but  of  men  like-minded  with  themselves.  "  Out 
of  small  beginnings,"  said  Governor  Bradford,  "  great  things  have 
been  produced ;  and  as  one  small  candle  may  light  a  thousand,  so  the 
light  here  kindled  hath  shone  to  many,  yea  to  our  whole  nation." 


112  HISTORY    OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

MASSACHUSETTS-BAY    COLONY. 

WHILST  the  Pilgrims  were  taking  deep  root  and  extending  their 
borders,  various  attempts  were  being  made,  under  grants  derived  from 
the  Great  Patent,  to  colonise  the  coast.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
whose  name  is  already  familiar  to  our  readers,  a  friend  of  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  and  a  steadfast  advocate  of  colonisation,  obtained  a  grant  of 
territory  on  the  north-west  side  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  for  his  son 
Robert,  who  was  sent  over  by  the  English  patentees  as  lieutenant  of 
New  England,  accompanied  by  an  episcopalian  clergyman  as  superin- 
tendent of  ecclesiastical  affairs ;  but  no  success  attended  him ;  and 
instead  of  establishing  a  seat  of  government,  he  was  shortly  compelled 
to  retire  to  Weymouth,  already  deserted  by  the  "  unruly  company"  of 
Weston's  men,  which  he  in  an  equally  short  time  also  abandoned. 
The  same  year  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  John  Mason  obtained  a 
grant  of  the  whole  extent  of  country  included  between  the  sea,  the 
St.  Lawrence,  the  Merrimac  and  the  Kennebec  rivers,  and  great 
mercantile  settlements  were  projected  on  the  banks  of  the  Piscataqua ; 
but  again  these  attempts  failed  of  success.  The  soil  of  New  England 
was  evidently  not  intended  for  the  mere  trader  or  adventurer.  In 
1628,  Mason,  alarmed  at  the  progress  already  made  by  the  Puritan 
settlers,  obtained  a  new  patent  for  the  country  between  the  Merrimac 
and  the  Piscataqua,  which,  without  reference  to  any  rights  of  the 
natives,  was  ceded  at  once  to  him  This  was  the  patent  under  which 
New  Hampshire  was  established.  The  town  of  Portsmouth  was 
founded,  but  neither  town  nor  colony  flourished  greatly  j  several  years 
afterwards  the  town  consisted  but  of  about  sixty  families.  In  1G35 


(1616.)        FIRST   SETTLEMENT   OP  MAINE   AND   NOVA  SCOTIA.  113 

Mason  died,  and  after  his  death  New  Hampshire  was  left  to  take  care 
of  itself. 

From  the  year  1606,  when  Martin  Pring  and  Weymouth  first 
discovered  the  northern  bays  of  New  England,  the  ships  of  fishermen 
had  visited  their  coasts,  and  by  degrees  had  settled  upon  them  per- 
manent stations.  In  1616,  Gorges  sent  to  these  northern  shores  a 
colonising  party  under  Richard  Vines,  who  arrived  in  the  country  at 
the  time  when  that  pestilence  was  raging  among  the  natives  which 
depopulated  so  great  an  extent  of  territory,  and  which  was  regarded 
by  the  later  pious  settlers  as  an  interposition  of  God,  who  thus 
"  made  way  for  his  people  by  removing  the  heathen."  Vines  and  his 
company  marched  to  the  interior,  holding  familiar  intercourse  with 
the  dying  natives  without  themselves  taking  the  infection,  and  finally 
settled  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saco  river,  the  place  being  called  by  them 
Winter  Harbour.  The  colonists  pursued  agriculture  and  fishing: 
the  husbandmen  taking  up  tracts  of  one  hundred  acres  on  long  leases 
from  Thomas  Vines.  It  is  said  that  farms  are  held  to  this  day  under 
these  old  leases,  written  in  Latin,  the  tenure  being  very  light — five 
shillings  a  year,  perhaps,  a  few  days'  work  and  a  fat  goose.  Never- 
theless colonisation  was  slow,  spite  of  the  attractive  and  poetical 
accounts  of  the  beauty  and  desirableness  of  the  country  to  emigrants, 
which  were  circulated  in  Old  England.  In  1636,  when  the  first  duly 
organised  court  was  held  within  the  State  of  Maine,  the  total  number 
of  inhabitants  in  the  five  different  provinces,  including  the  islands, 
amounted  to  about  1,500. 

The  first  settlement  of  Nova  Scotia  was  about  contemporaneous 
with  that  of  Maine.  Gorges,  who  was  jealous  of  the  French  becoming 
the  ultimate  possessors  of  these  northern  regions,  invited  over  a  num- 
ber of  Scottish  emigrants,  King  James  being  favourable  to  the  design, 
and  these  were  planted  in  Nova  Scotia. 

Having  thus  slightly  reviewed  the  efforts  made  to  colonise  the 
northern  portion  of  New  England,  we  will  return  to  the  colonies  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  which,  instinct  with  the  element  of  life,  advanced 
at  once  into  well-organised  and  flourishing  states. 

Persecution  continuing  in  England,  voluntary  exiles  for  conscience- 
sake  still  cast  their  eyes  beyond  the  great  waters  for  the  land  of 
refuge.  Among  these  was  Eoger  Conant,  who  by  the  aid  and  advice 


114  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

of  his  friend,  a  puritan  minister  of  Dorchester,  named  White,  left 
England  with  a  small  company,  and  who,  having  endeavoured,  but  in 
vain,  to  establish  themselves  on  Cape  Ann,  after  incredible  sufferings 
removed  to  Salem,  on  the  Bay  of  Massachusetts.  The  scheme  of  this 
colony  was  in  the  meantime  still  further  perfecting  itself  in  the  mother- 
country.  Down  in  the  south-west  of  England,  and  among  the  fens 
of  Lincolnshire,  the  suffering  for  conscience-sake  not  only  discussed 
it  among  themselves,  but  communicating  together  on  the  subject, 
determined  to  purchase  from  the  unscrupulous  council  for  New 
England  a  grant  of  territory.  This  was  soon  accommodated,  and  a 
portion  of  the  land  already  conveyed  to  Gorges  and  Mason  was 
assigned  to  them ;  and  John  Endicott,  whose  name  alone  seems  to 
personify  the  stern  spirit  of  puritanism,  was,  as  "  a  fit  instrument 
for  this  wilderness -work,"  chosen  leader  of  a  company  which 
embraced  within  its  ranks  some  of  the  most  distinguished  men  of  the 
colony. 

Endicott,  with  whom  came  his  wife  and  family,  settled  down  with 
his  company,  as  Conant  had  done,  in  the  dreary  wilderness  around 
Salem.  Within  a  short  time  of  their  landing,  three  brothers  of  the 
name  of  Sprague,  and  four  others,  penetrated  the  forest,  to  a  place 
called  by  the  Indians  Mishawum,  where  they  found  an  Englishman, 
a  smith,  living,  and  here  they  settled,  calling  the  place  Charlestown. 
Tidings  having  reached  England  of  the  safe  arrival  of  this  company. 
"  the  men  of  Boston,  and  others,"  decided  on  following  their  example ; 
and  the  next  year,  "  after  much  labour  and  great  expense,"  the  patent 
of  the  council  of  Plymouth  was  confirmed  by  the  king,  Charles  I., 
and  the  powers  of  government  conveyed  to  them  under  the  name  of 
the  Governor  and  Company  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England. 
It  is  a  singular  circumstance  in  this  charter,  that  the  government, 
while  invested  with  all  necessary  powers  of  legislation,  yet  required 
no  assent  of  the  monarch  to  render  its  acts  valid.  Charles  regarded 
it  merely  as  a  trading  company,  whose  affairs  were  indifferent  to  the 
crown.  Legislative  and  executive  authority  resided  with  the  corpo- 
ration in  London.  The  freemen  of  Massachusetts,  like  the  Virginians, 
were  left  without  one  valuable  franchise,  at  the  mercy  of  a  corporation 
beyond  the  seas.  "  The  history  of  Massachusetts,"  says  Bancroft, 
"  is  the  counterpart  to  that  of  Virginia ;  the  latter  obtained  its 


SETTLEMENT   IN   THE   WILDERNESS   OF   SALEM.  115 

greatest  liberty  by  the  abrogation  of  the  charter  of  its  company.  The 
former  by  a  transfer  of  its  charter,  and  a  daring  construction  of  its 
powers  by  the  successors  of  the  original  patentees." 

Another  remarkable  fact  in  this  patent  was  the  strict  injunction 
given  to  Endicott,  the  governor,  to  treat  with  the  natives  for  the 
equitable  purchase  of  their  lands.  "  If  any  of  the  savages,"  it  is 
said,  "  pretend  right  of  inheritance,  we  pray  you  endeavour  to  pur- 
chase their  title  ;  that  no  wrong  or  injury  be  done  to  the  natives." 

This  company  of  emigrants,  amounting  to  about  300  persons,  in 
five  ships,  with  good  store  of  cattle,  horses  and  all  necessaries,  were 
accompanied  by  the  excellent  Francis  Higginson,  a  nonconformist 
preacher,  whose  account  of  the  voyage  and  the  country,  imme- 
diately sent  over  to  England,  excited  a  still  greater  enthusiasm 
for  emigration.  The  seal  of  the  infant  colony  was  an  Indian  erect, 
with  an  arrow  in  his  right  hand,  and  the  words,  "  Come  over  and  help 
us!" 

"  Farewell,  dear  England  !  "  said  the  minister,  with  his  friends  and 
children  standing  round  him,  as  they  lost  sight  of  their  native  land  ; 
"farewell,  the  church  of  God  in  England,  and  all  Christian  friends 
there  !  We  go  not  to  New  England  as  separatists  from  the  church  of 
England,  but  from  her  corruptions ;  we  go  to  practise  church 
reformation,  and  to  propagate  the  Gospel  in  America." 

At  the  end  of  June  they  reached  Salem,  where  they  found  about 
eight  or  ten  mud  cabins,  with  a  larger  one  for  the  governor,  and  a  few 
cultivated  fields.  "  There  are  in  all,"  says  Higginson,  "  of  old  and 
new  planters  about  three  hundred ;  two  hundred  of  whom  are  settled 
at  Salem,  and  the  rest  have  planted  themselves  at  Charlestown.  We 
at  Salem  make  what  haste  we  can  to  build  houses,  so  that  shortly  we 
shall  have  a  fair  town." 

This  church  of  God  in  the  wilderness,  which  had  come  hither  to 
practise  reformation,  soon  found  members  within  its  bosom  who  clung 
to  the  old  forms  and  ceremonies ;  and  the  return  of  the  ships  which 
had  brought  them  out  carried  back  the  leaders  of  this  faction — cast 
out  by  the  church,  which  would  not  allow  them  to  remain  within  her 
borders,  and  by  Endicott,  the  governor,  that  there  might  not  bo 
"  spies  in  the  camp." 

The  following  winter  brought  with  it  many  hardships.      Before  the 


116  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

next  spring  nearly  half  the  emigrants,  the  enthusiastic  Higginson 
among  the  rest,  were  removed  by  death.  But  not  even  these  misfor- 
tunes, nor  yet  the  evil  report  of  intolerance  and  persecution,  which 
the  expelled  friends  of  episcopacy  carried  back  with  them  to  England, 
could  damp  the  ardour  for  colonisation  which  filled  the  hearts  of  the 
English  Puritans ;  to  them  the  Indian  from  the  wilderness  appealed, 
"  Come  over  and  help  us ; "  and  the  report  of  Higginson,  though  now 
dead,  testified  to  them  of  a  land  abundant  as  that  of  Canaan. 

Emigration  on  a  more  comprehensive  scale  than  had  before  been 
thought  of  was  decided  upon.  Men  of  influence  and  fortune  embarked 
in  it,  determining,  however,  to  form  "  a  peculiar  government,  and  to 
colonise  only  with  the  best."  To  carry  out  their  views  fully,  it  was 
necessary  to  obtain  a  transfer  of  the  charter  from  the  council  in 
England  to  the  freemen  now  emigrating,  and  others  inhabiting  the 
colony.  Bold  as  this  scheme  was,  it  was  accomplished.  The  patent 
and  the  government  were  legally  transferred  to  the  emigrants  them- 
selves, and  the  excellent  John  Winthrop  was  chosen  governor  before 
leaving  England.  The  calm  firmness  of  Winthrop  sustained  many 
timid  spirits  who  were  alarmed  at  the  unexampled  boldness  of  their 
undertaking ;  others  again  shrank  back  at  the  last  moment ;  there 
was  a  winnowing  out  among  them,  and  literally  "  the  best "  only 
went.  Years  afterwards  it  was  said  of  this  great  and  good  governor, 
that  he  was  as  a  mother  to  the  infant  colony,  "  parent-like,  distributing 
his  goods  and  gladly  bearing  the  infirmities  of  the  weak,  yet  ever 
maintaining  the  figure  and  honour  of  his  place  with  the  spirit  of  a 
true  gentleman."  Of  him  Bancroft  says,  "  his  character  marks  the 
transition  of  the  Reformation  into  avowed  republicanism  ;  when  the 
sentiment  of  loyalty,  still  sacredly  cherished,  was  gradually  yielding 
to  the  irresistible  spirit  of  civil  freedom." 

Eight  hundred  persons,  all  Puritans,  inclining  to  the  Calvinistic 
doctrines,  accompanied  Winthrop.  In  the  course  of  the  year,  seven- 
teen vessels  brought  over  1,500  persons.  It  was,  however,  no 
garden  of  Eden,  no  land  of  Canaan  to  which  they  had  come. 
"Arriving  here  in  June  and  July,"  says  Dudley,  in  his  letter  to  the 
Countess  of  Lincoln,  who,  with  her  family,  was  deeply  concerned  in 
this  emigration,  "  we  found  the  colony  in  a  sad  and  unexpected  con- 
dition, above  eighty  of  them  being  dead  the  winter  before,  and  many 


EARLY  FORTUNES  OF  THE  COLONISTS.  117 

of  those  alive,  sick  and  weak ;  all  the  bread  and  corn  among  them 
hardly  sufficient  to  feed  them  a  fortnight,  insomuch  that  nearly  200 
servants  whom  we  had  sent  over  at  great  cost,  received  their  liberty, 
we  being  wholly  unable  to  feed  them." 

Salem,  at  which  they  had  arrived,  not  wholly  pleasing  the  new- 
comers, some  time  was  spent  in  searching  the  coast  for  localities  more 
to  their  mind,  and  finally  some  of  them  settled  at  Charlestown,  others 
at  a  short  distance  where  was  an  excellent  spring,  and  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  BOSTON  ;  some  on  the  Mistic  at  Medford ;  others  at 
Watertown  and  Rocksbury ;  "  others  again  upon  the  Saugus  at  Lynn, 
between  Salem  and  Charlestown,  and  the  western  men  four  miles 
south  of  Boston,  at  a  place  they  called  Dorchester ;  several  of  these 
settlements  being  now  suburbs  of  Boston." 

This  dispersion  was  a  great  grief  to  the  company,  but  it  was  only 
as  the  beginning  of  sorrows.  "  They  who  had  health,"  says  Dudley, 
"  fell  to  building,  wherein  many  were  interrupted  by  sickness  and 
death.  Deaths  were  for  some  time  of  almost  daily  occurrence. 
Dissatisfaction  prevailed  in  many  minds,  and  when  the  ships  returned 
to  England,  about  a  hundred  returned  with  them;  thus  was  the 
company  again  winnowed  of  the  faithless  and  faint-hearted.  The 
ships  being  gone,"  continues  Dudley,  "  victuals  wasting,  and  mortality 
increasing,  we  held  divers  fasts  in  our  several  congregations.  But 
the  Lord  would  not  be  deprecated ;  and  among  many  other  deaths, 
on  the  30th  of  September  died  Mr.  Johnson,  the  Lady  Arabella,  his 
wife,  being  dead  a  month  before.  This  gentleman  was  a  prince 
amongst  us,  zealous  for  religion,  and  the  greatest  furtherer  of  this 
plantation."  The  deaths  of  these  two  excellent  people  caused,  say 
some  of  their  fellow-sufferers,  "  not  only  weeping  eyes  but  fainting 
hearts,  fearing  the  fall  of  the  present  work."  JohnsDn  was  buried  at 
the  upper  end  of  his  lot  of  land,  in  the  faith  of  his  rising  in  it.  This 
ground  became  the  first  burial-place  in  Boston,  others  desiring  to  be 
laid  round  his  grave.  The  Lady  Arabella  was  daughter  of  the  third 
Earl  of  Lincoln ;  "  she  came,"  says  Hubbard,  "  from  a  paradise  of 
plenty  and  pleasure  into  a  wilderness  of  wants ; "  "  and,"  adds  Cotton 
Mather,  quaintly,  "  she  took  New  England  in  her  way  to  heaven." 
One  of  the  ships  who  conveyed  over  this  company  of  emigrants  was 
called,  in  honour  of  her,  the  Arabella.  She  was  buried  at  Salem,  the 


118  HISTORY  OF  THE  UKITED  STATES. 

place  of  her  interment  being  still  respected ;  and  a  girls'  gram- 
mar-school in  Boston  now  bears  her  name.  Of  those  who  came 
from  England  in  April,  200,  at  least,  had  died  by  December. 
Governor  Winthrop,  whose  son  was  drowned  the  veiy  day  of  his 
lauding,  writing  to  his  wife,  says,  "  I  have  lost  twelve  of  my  family ; 
the  Lord's  hand  hath  been  heavy  upon  me ; "  yet  he  assures  her,  "  I 
would  not  have  altered  my  course  though  I  had  foreseen  all  these 
afflictions ;  I  never  had  more  content  of  mind."  They  who  survived 
were  not  discouraged,  but  bearing  God's  corrections  with  humility, 
and  trusting  in  his  mercies,  they  bore  in  mind  "  how  after  a  lower 
ebb  God  had  raised  up  their  neighbours  at  Plymouth."  Through 
all  their  afflictions  and  sufferings,  these  steadfast  men  and  women, 
who  saw  the  hand  of  God  in  all  things,  never  omitted  the  sacred 
duties  of  the  Sabbath,  though  they  had  to  assemble  in  the  open  fields 
or  beneath  the  forest  trees — God  was  ever  present  with  them  ;  and 
little  children  in  the  hour  of  death  became  transfigured,  as  it  were, 
and  testifying  of  their  faith  and  their  assurance  of  immortality, 
were  a  marvel  to  all. 

In  the  midst  of  their  sorrows  and  sufferings  the  purpose  of  their 
coming  hither  to  establish  a  pure  church  in  the  wilderness  was  not 
forgotten.  The  first  measure  of  the  Court  of  Assistants  was  to  pro- 
vide for  the  administration  of  the  gospel.  Within  two  years  of  their 
landing,  seven  churches  were  firmly  established  and  provided  with 
devout  ministers.  Their  second  object  was  the  settlement  of  a 
government  which  was  to  secure  their  beloved  popular  liberties. 
Their  charter  provided  that  laws  were  to  be  enacted  in  the  assembly 
of  all  the  freemen  of  the  colony,  but  a  fear  soon  crept  in  of  this  being 
susceptible  of  too  wide  an  interpretation ;  already  above  a  hundred 
old  planters  and  members  of  no  church  "  were  freemen  equally  with 
themselves."  The  stern,  uncompromising  spirit  of  the  religionist 
awoke.  "  Late  in  May,  after  the  corn  was  set,"  a  general  court 
ordained  that  while  the  governor,  deputy-governor,  and  assistants, 
should  be  chosen  by  the  freemen,  none  should  be  admitted  to  the 
freedom  of  the  body-politic  but  such  as  were  members  of  some  church 
within  the  limits  of  the  colony. 

Thus  was  the  door  opened  to  bigotry  and  intolerance!  A  species  of 
theocratic  government  was  established;  God  was  the  head  of  his 


FRIENDLY   DISPOSITION   OF  THE    INDIAN   CHIEFS.  119 

people ;  his  people  were  they  who  constituted  the  elect,  and  whoso 
names  were  registered  in  the  book  of  eternal  life.  "An  aristocracy," 
adds  Bancroft,  "  was  founded,  but  not  of  wealth.  A  servant,  a  bond- 
man, might  be  a  member  of  the  church  and  therefore  a  freeman  of 
the  company.  The  Calvinists  of  Massachusetts,  scrupulously  refusing 
to  the  clergy  the  least  shadow  of  political  favour,  established  the 
reign  of  a  visible  church  or  commonwealth  of  the  chosen  people  in 
covenant  with  God." 

Sincerely  religious  themselves,  this  was  nevertheless  a  dangerous 
principle  to  introduce  into  their  government,  and  one  totally  sub- 
versive of  the  spirit  of  true  religion  and  democratic  liberty. 

Among  the  early  records,  we  will  mention,  that  "  the  governor,  in 
consideration  of  the  inconveniences  which  had  grown  in  England  by 
drinking  one  to  another,  restrained  it  at  his  table,  and  wished  others 
to  do  the  like."  And  that  the  first  baptisms  registered  in  Boston 
Church  are  those  of  "Joy  and  Recompense,  daughters  of  brother  John 
Miles ;  and  Pity,  daughter  of  our  brother  William  Balstone." 

Whilst  a  satisfactory  form  of  government  was  being  established, 
the  colony  received  friendly  visits  from  the  principal  surrounding 
Indian  chiefs.  The  sagamore  of  the  Mohegans  from  the  banks  of  the 
Connecticut,  invited  the  English  to  settle  in  his  country ;  the  Nip- 
mucks  besought  aid  against  their  enemies  the  Mohawks ;  the  son  of 
the  old  Canonicus  sent  presents ;  Miantonomoh,  the  grand  warrior  of 
the  Narragansetts,  the  associate  sachem  with  Canonicus,  visited  the 
governor,  and  attended  with  him  divine  service ;  and  lastly  from  the 
river  of  the  Pequods  came  the  wily  Uncas,  who  declared  to  the 
authorities  that  "  his  heart  was  not  his  own  but  theirs." 

In  the  second  year  of  the  colony,  Governor  Winthrop  and  Wilson, 
the  minister  of  Boston,  made  a  journey  on  foot  to  visit  the  brethren 
of  the  older  colony  at  New  Plymouth.  There  is  something  apostolic 
in  the  narrative  of  this  visit.  They  arrived  at  Plymouth  in  the 
evening.  "  Mr.  William  Bradford,  the  governor,  a  grave  and  discreet 
man,  with  Mr.  Brewster,  the  ruling  elder,  went  forth  to  meet  them 
outside  the  town,  and  conducted  them  to  the  governor's  house,  where 
they  were  well  entertained  for  several  days.  On  Lord's-day  they 
partook  of  the  sacrament,  and  in  the  afternoon  a  question  was  pro- 
pounded by  Roger  Williams,  which  was  spoken  to  by  the  pastor ; 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

then  the  preacher  prophesied,  and  after  that  the  governor  of  Ply- 
mouth, who  was  skilled  in  Hebrew  and  antiquities,  spoke  to  the 
question,  and  after  him  the  elder,  a  learned  man,  and  others.  Then 
Governor  Winthrop  and  Mr.  Wilson  were  asked  to  speak,  which  they 
did,  and  so  the  service  of  the  Sabbath  ended  to  the  edification  of  all. 
On  the  following  Wednesday,  before  day-break,  Governor  Winthrop 
and  his  company  left  Plymouth,  being  accompanied  by  the  governor 
of  Plymouth,  the  minister  and  divers  others,  near  half  a  mile  out  of 
the  town  in  the  dark." 

About  the  same  time  the  colony  of  Virginia,  now  flourishing,  sent 
a  rich  cargo  of  corn  to  Boston,  and  trade  was  commenced  with  the 
Dutch  on  the  Hudson.  The  news  of  this  increasing  prosperity 
reached  England,  where  persecution  remained  unabated,  and  renewed 
emigration  was  the  consequence.  The  Griffin,  after  a  long  voyage, 
brought  hither  "a  noble  freight,  of  two  hundred,  amongst  whom 
were  the  fathers  of  Connecticut,  Hooker  and  Haynes,  the  latter  a 
man  of  a  heavenly  mind,  and  the  pious  and  learned  Cotton."  The 
congregation  to  whom  Hooker  had  ministered  in  England  had 
already  preceded  him,  and  now  thronged  to  meet  and  welcome  him. 
"  Now  I  live,"  exclaimed  he,  embracing  them,  "  if  ye  stand  fast  in 
the  Lord." 

Spite  of  the  growing  prosperity  of  the  colony,  serious  apprehensions 
were  caused  regarding  its  safety  in  consequence  of  reports  made  to 
the  English  government,  by  persons  who  at  various  times,  for  dis- 
cordant sentiments  or  misconduct,  had  been  expelled.  The  colonists 
were  threatened  by  the  privy  council,  strengthened  by  Laud,  with 
the  revocation  of  their  charter.  They  resolved  to  defend  themselves 
by  force  of  arms  if  necessary,  and  fortifications  were  at  once  com- 
menced in  Boston  harbonr,  at  Charlestown,  and  Dorchester.  Thus 
early  were  they  prepared  to  assert  their  own  independence. 

In  1634,  the  settlement  of  Massachusetts  having  become  much  more 
numerous,  extending  thirty  miles  from  Boston,  it  was  found  incon- 
venient for  all  the  freemen  to  attend  the  general  court;  hence  a 
change  was  made  which  altered  their  form  of  government  from 
simple  democratic  to  representative.  The  electors  of  each  town  chose 
two  or  three  deputies  to  confer  on  public  business  and  attend  the 
court,  vested  with  the  full  power  of  the  freemen  whom  they  repre- 


(1635.)          IMPORTANT   EMIGRATION  TO   MASSACHUSETTS.  121 

sented.  The  mode  of  voting  was  also  changed  from  show  of  hands 
to  ballot.  The  whole  body  of  freemen  were,  however,  to  elect  the 
magistrates,  and  to  these,  and  the  deputies  sent  by  each  town,  the 
legislative  power  was  confided.  A  law  against  arbitrary  taxation 
followed.  "With  the  exception  of  the  principle  of  universal  suffrage," 
says  Bancroft,  "the  representative  democracy  was  as  perfect  two 
centuries  ago  as  at  the  present  day."  The  criminal  code  was  based  on 
the  Mosaic  laws.  The  meeting-house  at  Boston  was  at  this  time  its 
house  of  representatives.  Religion  and  government  were  kindred. 

In  1635,  no  less  than  3,000  persons  suffering  under  the  despotism  of 
Charles  emigrated  to  Massachusetts.  "  Godly  people  in  England,"  we 
are  told,  "  beginning  to  apprehend  a  special  hand  of  Providence  in 
raising  up  this  plantation,  their  hearts  were  stirred  to  go  over."  The 
wilderness  was  planted  with  Christian  churches ;  the  forest  rang  with 
the  sound  of  their  psalms ;  "  the  poorest  of  the  children  of  God  in  the 
whole  world  were  resolved  to  excel  in  holiness." 

Among  the  new-comers  of  1635  was  Henry  Vane  the  younger,  a 
man  of  a  pure  and  noble  mind,  and  an  ardent  friend  of  religious 
liberty.  The  year  after  his  arrival,  so  much  had  the  youthful  suavity 
and  grace  of  his  manner,  his  religious  attainments  and  his  political 
sagacity,  wrought  upon  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  that  he  was 
elected  governor  in  place  of  the  excellent  and  long-tried  Winthrop,  a 
preference  which  they  afterwards  found  cause  to  regret. 
VOL.  I.  6 


122  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

RHODE  ISLAND;   ROGER  WILLIAMS  AND  ANNE  HUTCHINSON. 

ON  the  5th  of  February,  1631,  the  very  ship  which  came  like  the 
herald  of  God's  mercy  to  the  famishing-  people,  changing  their  solemn 
fast  and  humiliation  into  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  brought  with  its 
other  freight  "  a  young  minister,  godly  and  zealous,  having  precious 
gifts,"  a  better  freight  even  than  bread  to  the  famishing,  but  which 
at  the  same  time  might  be  regarded  as  its  type.  This  was  Roger 
Williams,  one  of  the  noblest  spirits  of  an  age  which  abounded  in 
great  men. 

Roger  Williams  possessed  one  of  those  rarely-gifted  minds  which 
perceives  truth  at  a  glance.  Looking  beyond  the  advancement  of  his 
age,  he  stood  forth  as  the  firm  advocate  and  prophet  of  that  diviner 
knowledge  which  is  compassed  by  Christianity,  but  which  the  highest 
Christian  professors,  except  in  very  rare  instances,  comprehend  only 
piecemeal. 

Like  the  rest  of  his  suffering  brethren,  Roger  Williams  was  a 
Puritan,  and  fled  to  America  to  escape  persecution.  Unlike  them, 
however,  amid  the  afflictions  of  persecution  he  had  attained  to  a  pro- 
found knowledge,  either  through  the  grasp  of  a  great  intellect,  or  the 
single-mindedness  of  a  child-like  spirit,  both  of  which  were  portions 
of  his  character.  He  saw  that  the  office  of  civil  magistrate  was  to 
restrain  crime,  not  to  control  opinion ;  to  punish  guilt,  not  to  violate 
the  freedom  of  the  human  soul. 

Arrived  in  Massachusetts,  he  found  the  churches  there  not  free  as 
the  gospel  would  make  them ;  and  great  was  the  excitement  produced 
by  the  doctrines  which  he  promulgated — "  the  ill-egg  of  toleration," 
as  it  was  now  termed.  Nevertheless  the  people  of  Salem  invited  him 


(1S31.)          ROGER   WILLIAMS    AND    HTS    LIBERAL    DOCTRINES.  123 

to  become  their  minister,  at  which  the  court  of  Boston  "  marvelled," 
and  before  long  his  friends  at  Salem  were  required  to  give  him  up. 
He  then  withdrew  to  Plymouth,  whence  after  two  years  he  was 
recalled  to  Salem  by  those  who  could  never  forget  his  mild  virtues 
and  his  great  doctrines. 

Controversy  on  controversy  succeeded;  the  magistrates  asserted 
their  laws  of  intolerance,  insisted  on  the  presence  of  every  man  at 
public  worship,  in  the  very  spirit  of  that  intolerant  and  legislative 
religion  which  had  driven  them  from  their  native  land.  Williams 
stood  forth  as  the  unflinching  champion  of  religious  liberty,  of  the 
sanctity  of  opinion  and  the  freedom  of  the  human  mind,  and  as  the 
bold  assailant  of  soul-oppression,  "  the  removal  of  which  yoke,"  said 
he,  "will  prove  an  act  of  righteousness  to  the  enslaved  nations." 
Besides  these  doctrines,  he  so  steadfastly  maintained  the  original  right 
of  the  Indians  to  their  land,  that  he  even  questioned  the  validity  of  any 
grant  of  their  territory  from  an  English  monarch  to  his  subjects. 

The  teachings  of  this  apostle  of  liberty  were  considered  subversive 
of  all  good  government ;  the  ministers  in  a  body  declared  "  any  one 
worthy  of  banishment"  who  should  assert,  as  Williams  had  done,  that 
magistrates  ought  not  to  interfere  even  to  stop  a  church  from  heresy, 
or  that  an  English  royal  grant  was  wanting  in  moral  validity.  A 
committee  of  divines  was  sent  to  Salem  "  to  deal  with  him  and  the 
church  in  a  church  way,"  and  a  tract  of  land  to  which  the  people  of 
Salem  laid  claim  was  withheld  from  them  as  a  punishment.  Williams, 
seeing  his  townspeople  thus  suffering  on  his  account,  wrote  a  letter 
to  all  the  churches  of  which  these  magistrates  were  members,  asking 
that  they  might  be  admonished  of  their  injustice.  This  was  the 
finishing  stroke  to  his  offending.  The  general  court  proceeded  to 
disfranchise  Salem  until  apology  should  be  made  for  the  letter.  All 
now  yielded  to  the  storm ;  not  a  voice  in  Salem  was  raised  in  his 
behalf;  even  his  wife  reproached  him  as  an  evil-doer.  But  Christ, 
his  great  master,  had  been  deserted  by  all,  even  by  the  beloved 
disciple.  Williams  could  not  forget  this  trial  of  his  prototype ;  and 
declared  to  the  court  before  which  he  was  arraigned  that  "  he  was 
ready  to  be  bound  and  banished,  nay,  even  to  die  in  New  England, 
rather  than  renounce  the  opinions  which  had  dawned  upon  him  in 
the  clearness  of  light." 


124  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  court,  influenced  by  Cotton,  pronounced  against  him  the  sen- 
tence of  exile,  but  as  winter  was  at  hand,  he  was  allowed  to  remain 
till  spring.  This  reprieve  gave  time  for  the  affection  of  his  friends  to 
revive;  throngs  collected  to  hear  the  beloved  pastor  so  soon  to  be 
removed  from  them.  Twofold  value  seemed  now  to  attach  to  his 
opinions ;  his  views  began  to  spread ;  his  enemies  were  alarmed ;  and 
it  was  resolved  at  once  to  remove  him  on  board  a  pinnace  and  ship 
him  off  to  England.  But  he  was  already  gone.  It  was  now  the 
depth  of  winter ;  for  fourteen  weeks,  he  says,  he  was  sorely  tossed 
in  a  bitter  season,  not  knowing  what  bread  or  bed  meant ;  often  in  a 
stormy  night  he  had  neither  food,  fire,  nor  company,  nor  better  lodg- 
ing than  a  hollow  tree.  But  God  was  with  him  through  all,  and 
cared  for  him ;  he  was  fed  in  the  wilderness  as  the  prophet  had  been 
of  old.  The  Indians  were  his  friends  j  already  while  residing  at  Ply- 
mouth he  had  become  acquainted  with  their  principal  sachems,  and 
studied  their  language  until  he  was  able  to  converse  with  them  freely. 
Their  simple  hearts  had  opened  to  his  apostolic  virtues ;  the  cruel 
chiefs  of  the  forest  declared  that  they  loved  him  as  their  son. 

And  now,  his  flight  being  in  the  winter,  he  came  to  the  Indians. 
Alone,  and  on  foot,  he  arrived  at  Seekonk  on  the  Pawtucket  river, 
and  was  kindly  received  by  Massasoit,  the  sachem.  Seekonk  lay, 
however,  within  the  Plymouth  grant,  and  this  was  not  to  be  his 
abiding  place.  God,  rather  than  man,  willed  not  that  he  should 
remain  here.  In  a  short  time  he  received  a  letter  from  Winslow,  the 
governor  of  Plymouth,  an  excellent  man,  who  was  secretly  his  friend, 
"  lovingly  advising  him,  since  he  was  fallen  into  the  edge  of  their 
bounds,  to  remove  to  the  other  side  of  the  water,  where  the  country 
would  be  all  free  before  him." 

Williams  received  this  friendly  advice  as  the  council  of  God,  and 
directed  his  course  to  Narragansett  Bay.  In  the  month  of  June,  he, 
and  five  of  his  friends  who  had  followed  him  into  exile,  landed  from  a 
frail  Indian  canoe  on  a  spot  near  the  mouth  of  the  Moshassuck  river. 
Tradition  has  hallowed  the  spot  as  being  near  a  spring  of  clear  water, 
which  remains  to  this  day.  Here  he  took  up  his  abode,  calling  the 
place  PROVIDENCE,  in  grateful  commemoration  of  God's  merciful  pro- 
vidence to  him  in  his  distress.  He  had  landed  within  the  territory  of 
the  Narragansett  Indians,  the  sachems  of  whom  were  the  aged 


(1632.)  WILLIAMS'S  ABODE  AMONG  THE  INDIANS— HIS  CHARACTER.      125 

Canonicus  and  his  nephew,  the  bold  Miantonomoh,  who  received  him 
kindly  and  granted  him  a  settlement  on  their  borders.  Here  for  two 
years  he  lived,  labouring  not  alone  as  a  preacher  of  the  gospel,  though 
his  daily  life  was  a  gospel  sermon,  but,  as  he  himself  says,  "  day  and 
night,  at  home  and  abroad,  on  the  land  and  the  water,  a&  the  hoe  and 
the  oar  for  bread."  During  this  time  he  was  joined  by  many  others, 
and  probably,  also,  by  his  wife  and  family.  In  Marchj  1638,  he 
received  a  free  gift  of  territory  from  the  associate  chiefs  "  in  conside- 
ration," say  they,  "  of  the  many  kindnesses  and  services  he  hath 
continually  done  for  us,  we  do  freely  give  unto  him  all  that  land " 
which  is  then  primitively  indicated  by  the  boundary  of  rivers  and 
great  hills,  "  with  its  grass  and  meadows  and  fresh  waters." 

The  exile  Williams,  like  Joseph  of  old,  was  now  a  prince  among 
his  brethren,  but  instead  of  assuming  in  his  own  person  lordship  and 
dominion,  this  simple-minded  follower  of  Christ  divided  the  land  into 
twelve  parts,  one  of  which  he  gave  to  each  of  the  friends  who  were 
with  him,  reserving  for  himself  only  an  equal  portion  with  them,  his 
allotment,  containing  two  fields,  which  he  had  on  his  first  coming 
purchased  from  the  Indians  and  planted  with  his  own  hands ;  one  of 
which  fields  he  called  "  What-cheer,"  which  being  words  learned  from 
the  English,  was  the  first  Indian  salutation  he  received  in  the  land  of 
his  exile  ;  and  the  other,  "  Saxifrax  Hill."  He  had  not  come  thither 
to  seek  his  own  aggrandisement,  but,  as  he  says,  "his  soul's  desire  was 
to  do  the  nation  good ;"  and  now  that  God  had  given  him  an  oppor- 
tunity to  test  and  establish,  his  principles,  he  firmly  commenced  his 
work,  determining  to  "  found  a  commonwealth,  where  a  pure  demo- 
cracy should  prevail,  and  the  magistrate  should  rule  only  in  civil 
things."  He  desired,  as  he  himself  says,  that  it  might  be  a  shelter 
for  persons  distressed  for  conscience ;  and  so  it  in  truth  became. 

From  whatever  side  the  character  of  Roger  Williams  is  viewed,  it 
is  equally  admirable ;  suffering  from  persecution,  he  himself  never 
was  a  persecutor,  and  no  sentiment  of  revenge  found  a  place  in 
his  heart;  like  the  Great  Master,  whose  true  disciple  he  was,  he 
pitied  and  forgave  his  enemies,  and  sought  only  to  do  them  good : 
so  much  so,  indeed,  that  we  shall  presently  find  him  endangering 
his  own  life  to  insure  their  safety.  "  Many  hearts,"  it  is  related, 
"seeing  the  steadfast  nobility  of  his  conduct,  were  touched  with 


126  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

relen tings."  "VVinslow,  who  had  always  been  his  secret  friend,  visited 
him  on  one  occasion,  and  being  affected  by  the  poverty  which  sur- 
rounded him,  left  a  piece  of  gold  for  the  supply  of  himself  and 
family ;  even  his  enemies  confessed  "  that  he  had  the  root  of  the 
matter  in  him  ;"  and  his  friends  declare  him  to  have  been  "  one  of  the 
most  disinterested  of  men,  a  most  pious  and  heavenly -minded  soul." 

Thus  was  established  the  province  of  Rhode  Island,  which  was 
confirmed  by  free  charter,  granted  by  the  parliament,  in  1651,  to 
Roger  Williams  and  his  twelve  friends  under  the  title  of  "  Providence 
Plantation,  in  the  Narragansett  Bay  in  New  England."  A  still  more 
liberal  charter  was  granted  to  them  by  Charles  II.,  which  empow- 
ered them  to  "  rule  themselves,  and  .such  as  should  inhabit  within 
their  bounds,  by  such  a  form  of  civil  government  as  by  the 
voluntary  agreement  of  the  greater  number  should  be  found  most 
serviceable,  and  to  make  suitable  and  agreeable  to  the  laws  of 
England  so  far  as  the  nation  and  constitution  of  the  place  would 
admit."  In  a  letter  from  Roger  Williams  to  Captain  John  Mason  we 
read,  "  our  grant  is  crowned  with  the  king's  extraordinary  favour  to 
this  colony,  as  being  a  banished  one,  in  which  his  majesty  declared 
himself  that  he  would  experiment  whether  civil  government  could 
consist  with  such  liberty  of  conscience.  This,  his  majesty's  grant, 
startled  his  majesty's  high  officers  of  state  who  were  to  view  it,  in 
course,  before  the  sealing,  but  fearing  the  lion's  roaring,  they  crouched 
against  their  wills  in  obedience  to  his  majesty's  pleasure. 

"  Some  of  yours,  as  I  lately  heard,"  continues  he,  "  told  tales  to  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  that  we  are  a  profane  people,  and  do  not 
keep  the  Sabbath,  but  some  do  plough,  etc.  But  first  you  told  him 
not  how  we  suffer  freely  all  other  persuasions,  yea  the  Common 
Prayer,  which  you  yourselves  will  not  suffer." 

But  leaving  Roger  Williams  established  now  at  the  head  of  a  pro- 
vince, we  will  return  to  the  year  after  his  banishment,  when,  as 
he  says,  "  the  Lord  drew  the  bow  of  the  Pequod  warriors  against 
the  country."  The  English  had  at  this  time  extended  themselves 
into  Connecticut,  which  was  inhabited  by  Pequods,  a  fierce  tribe 
which  could  muster  at  least  700  warriors.  In  1634,  the  Pequods 
murdered  the  crew  of  a  small  trading  vessel  on  the  Connecticut 
river,  but  pleading  self-defence  as  their  excuse,  and  making  sub- 


(1634.)  WILLIAMS  NEGOTIATES   FOR   MASSACHUSETTS.  127 

mission,  the  government  of  Massachusetts  passed  over  the  offence, 
and  a  league  of  amity  was  formed  between  them,  the  Pequods  being 
at  the  same  time  reconciled  with  their  old  enemies,  the  Narragansetts. 
The  Pequods,  however,  were  no  sooner  relieved  from  fear  of  the 
Narragansetts,  than,  naturally  false  and  treacherous,  they  resolved  to 
attack  the  English,  and  accordingly  murdered  a  man  with  horrible 
circumstances  of  cruelty.  This  outrage  and  breach  of  faith  were  only 
inadequately  punished,  and  the  Pequods,  emboldened  by  what 
seemed  the  feebleness  of  the  English,  determined  on  forming  an 
alliance  with  the  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans  for  the  "complete 
extermination  of  the  English.  This  became  known  to  Roger  Williams, 
then  a  banished  man  among  the  Narragansetts,  and  with  a  noble 
Christian  spirit  he  informed  his  persecutors  of  the  dangers  which 
impended.  A  universal  terror  prevailed,  and  there  was  none  to  help 
them  but  Roger  Williams.  The  governor  and  council  of  Boston 
wrote  beseeching  him  to  use  his  speediest  endeavours  with  his  friends, 
the  Mohegans  and  Narragansetts,  to  prevent  their  league  of  destruc- 
tion with  the  bloody  Pequods.  "  And  the  Lord,"  says  he,  "  helped 
me  to  put  my  life  into  my  hands ;"  and  scarcely  acquainting  his  wife, 
he  embarked,  all  alone,  in  a  poor  canoe,  and  through  a  violent 
storm  reached  the  dwelling  of  the  sachem.  Here  he  found  the 
Pequod  ambassadors  reeking  as  it  seemed  with  blood ;  and  for  three 
days  and  three  nights  the  tardy  business  of  mediation  kept  him 
among  them  whose  bloody  knives  he  expected  each  night  at  his  own 
throat.  The  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans  wavered,  but  God  was 
with  the  messenger  of  peace,  and  "  wondrously  preserved  and  helped 
him."  The  terrible  league  was  broken,  and  the  Narragansetts  and 
Mohegans  were  induced  by  Williams  to  become  allies  of  the  English. 
A  braver,  nobler  action  never  was  performed.  The  banished  man  had 
heaped  coals  of  fire  on  the  heads  of  his  persecutors.  After  this 
generous  act  of  interference  on  their  behalf,  some  of  the  leading 
men  of  Massachusetts  wished  that,  at  least,  the  sentence  of  banish- 
ment against  him  should  be  revoked ;  but  the  fear  of  his  principles 
and  his  influence  overcame  the  sense  of  gratitude,  and  he  remained 
a  banished  man. 

The  same  year  that  Roger  Williams  was  expelled  from  Massa- 
chusetts, Anne  Hutchinson,  a  woman  of  deep  religious  experience 


128  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  great  powers  of  mind,  arrived,  with  her  husband  and  family  from 
England.     Religious  discussion  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  occupa- 
tions of  the  Puritans  of  Boston  ;  twice,  or  oftener,  in  the  week,  they 
met  to  canvass  the  sermons  of  the  preceding  Sabbath,  in  order  that 
the  religious  life  might  be  kept  active.     Men,  however,  were  only- 
admitted  on  these  occasions,  and  this,  to  the  masculine  intellect  and 
large  spirit  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  seemed  like  doing  the  divine  work 
only  by  halves.     She  therefore  opened  similar  meetings  in  her  own 
house,  to  which  her  own  sex  were  invited.     Twice  in  the  week  were 
these  meetings  held,  and  soon  attracted  great  numbers  of  the  prin- 
cipal women  of  the  place.     Henry  Vane,  the  once  popular  governor, 
who  had,  by  this  time,  been  discovered  to  hold  heretical  opinions, 
favoured  her  greatly  ;  her  views  were  supported  by  her  brother-in- 
law,  John  Wheelwright,  a  highly  respected  and  learned  minister,  and 
even  by  the  orthodox   Cotton.     Nevertheless,   it  was  soon   noised 
abroad  that  this  eloquent  and  able  woman  was  promulgating  all 
kinds  of  new  and  unthought-of  heresies.     Her  views,  it  was  said, 
threatened  destruction  to  church  and  state.     The  utmost  excitement 
prevailed  j  sermons  were  preached,  public  discussions  were  held,  and 
finally  a  synod  was  convened,  which  ended  by  banishing  her  and  her 
friends.     Vane,  in  the  meantime,  had  returned  to   England,   and 
Cotton,   afraid  of  the  storm,   attached  himself  to  the  persecuting 
party. 

Anne  Hutchin son's  opinions  were  Antinomian ;  among  other  here- 
tical opinions  which  are  charged  upon  her  by  Winthrop,  are  these — that 
the  Sabbath  is  but  as  other  days,  and  that  there  is  no  resurrection  of 
the  body :  and  as  an  instance  of  her  hardened  state,  he  records,  that 
"  after  she  was  excommunicated,  her  spirit,  which  seemed  before 
to  be  somewhat  dejected,  revived,  and  she  gloried  in  her  sufferings, 
saying,  '  that  they  were  the  greatest  happiness  next  to  Christ  that 
ever  befell  her.' "  Noble  spirit  this  of  the  true  martyr,  which  the 
persecutor  never  understands. 

As  in  Roger  Williams's  case,  the  sentence  of  banishment  was  pro- 
nounced on  her  at  the  commencement  of  winter,  and  with  a  faint 
sentiment  of  mercy,  she  was  allowed  to  remain  close  prisoner  in  a 
private  house  till  the  inclement  season  should  be  over.  In  the  mean- 
time, her  husband  and  others  of  her  party  left  Boston  to  seek  for  a 


(1634.)  ANNE   HUTCHINSON   BANISHED.  129 

new  place  of  settlement,  and  finding  one  to  their  mind  on  the  remote 
borders  of  the  Plymouth  grant,  applied  for  it ;  but,  says  Winthrop, 
"the  magistrates  knowing  their  spirit,  gave  them  a  denial." 

Before  the  month  of  January  was  over,  a  warrant  .was  sent  to  Anne 
Hutchinson,  to  order  her  departure.  In  the  meantime,  those  of  her 
family  and  friends  who  had  set  out  to  the  south,  intending  to  plant 
themselves  in  Delaware  Bay,  had  been  welcomed  on  their  journey 
by  Roger  Williams,  who  induced  them  to  remain  in  his  neighbour- 
hood ;  and  by  his  influence,  Miantonomoh  conferred  on  them  the 
beautiful  island  of  Aquetneck,  called  by  them,  from  an  imagined 
resemblance  to  Rhodes,  Rhode  Island,  in  Narragansett  Bay,  and  in 
the  immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Providence  settlement.  Here, 
says  Winthrop,  "Anne  Hutchinson  broached  new  heresies  every 
year." 

The  enlightened  historian  of  the  present  day,*  reviewing  the  past 
in  the  calm  spirit  of  philosophy  and  Christianity,  speaks  thus  :  "  The 
spirit  of  the  institutions  established  by  this  band  of  voluntary  exiles 
— for  the  number  was  considerable  which  followed  this  noble  woman 
into  banishment — on  the  soil  which  they  owed  to  the  benevolence  of 
the  native,  was  derived  from  natural  justice :  by  a  social  compact, 
signed  by  all,  the  government  was  based  on  the  general  consent ;  the 
forms  of  administration  were  borrowed  from  the  Jews.  Coddington 
was  elected  judge,  and  three  elders  were  chosen  assistants.  The 
colony  rested  on  the  principle  of  intellectual  liberty.  The  settlement 
prospered,  and  in  1641  its  constitution  was  framed.  It  was  ordained 
therefore  by  the  whole  body  of  freemen,  '  that  the  government  be  a 
democracy,  or  popular  government,  viz.,  It  is  in  the  power  of  the  body 
of  freemen  orderly  assembled,  or  the  major  part  of  them,  to  make  or 
constitute  just  laws  by  which  they  will  be  regulated,  and  to  depute 
from  among  themselves  such  ministers  as  will  see  them  faithfully 
executed  between  man  and  man.'  It  was  further  ordained  that 
none  be  accounted  a  delinquent  for  doctrine.  The  little  community 
was  held  together  by  affection  and  freedom  of  opinion.  The  seal  of 
the  state  was  a  sheaf  of  arrows,  and  the  motto  AMOR  VINCIT  OMNIA. 
The  same  year  a  patent  was  obtained  from  England  through  their 
friend,  the  now  powerful  Henry  Vane." 

*  Bancroft. 
6* 


130  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

John  Wheelwright,  with  other  of  Anne  Hutchinsons  disciples, 
went  to  the  north,  where  he  purchased,  in  the  valley  of  the  Piscataqna, 
a  tract  of  land  from  a  celebrated  Indian  sorcerer,  the  chief  of  the 
Pennicook  Indians,  and  founded  the  town  of  Exeter. 

Of  the  remarkable  woman,  the  head  of  this  intellectual  movement, 
which  still  survives  in  America,  we  have  but  little  to  relate,  and  that 
is  sad  as  the  last  act  of  a  tragedy.  Leaving  the  state  from  which  she 
was  thrust  out,  she  travelled  by  land  through  the  wilderness  to  Pro- 
vidence, and  thence  joined  her  family  and  friends  on  their  island 
settlement.  Banishment  had  not,  however,  destroyed  her  influence  in 
Massachusetts ;  she  continued  to  draw  after  her  such  numbers  that 
the  wise  men  of  Massachusetts  suspected  her  of  witchcraft.  Her  son 
and  her  son-in-law,  both  preachers,  who  had  been  in  Barbadoes, 
returning  thence  to  Boston,  were  heavily  fined  and  imprisoned  for 
preaching.  Anne  Hutchinson  was  now  a  widow,  and  as  not  even 
Rhode  Island  seemed  a  refuge  from  persecution,  she  and  her  family, 
the  following  year,  removed  still  further  south,  to  the  borders  of  the 
Dutch  settlements.  Unfortunately,  the  Indians  were  at  that  time  in 
a  state  of  exasperation  against  the  Dutch,  and  not  discriminating 
between  nations,  set  fire  to  the  house  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  and,  sorrow- 
ful to  relate,  she  and  all  her  family,  with  the  exception  of  one  child, 
sixteen  persons  in  number,  perished  at  midnight  either  by  the  flames 
or  the  cruel  weapons  of  the  Indians. 


(1651.)  THE   CONNECTICUT  EIVER  DISCOVERED.  131 


CHAPTER  X. 

SETTLEMENT   OF   CONNECTICUT. 

THE  Connecticut  river  was  discovered  about  the  same  time  both  by 
the  Dutch  and  the  English,  who  both  claim  the  honour,  which  is 
supposed  by  some  writers  to  be  due  to  the  Dutch  ;  the  English,  how- 
ever, were  the  first  settlers  on  its  banks.  In  1651,  Wahquimacut, 
the  sachem  of  one  of  the  Indian  tribes  which  inhabited  the  Connecti- 
cut valley,  being  pressed  by  his  enemies  the  Pequods  on  the  east,  and 
the  Mohawks  on  the  west,  made  his  appearance  in  Boston,  and  after- 
wards in  Plymouth,  to  invite  a  settlement  in  his  country,  the  beauty 
and  fertility  of  which  he  described  in  glowing  colours.  The  Ply- 
mouth colony,  which  had  declined  the  invitation  of  Lord  Baltimore  into 
the  milder  region  of  Maryland,  listened  more  willingly  to  that  of 
the  Indian  sachem,  and  Governor  Winslow  himself  visited  the  valley, 
and  found  it  no  less  attractive  than  had  been  represented. 

The  report  of  this  new  and  delightful  region,  lying  on  a  river 
which  offered  every  facility  for  an  advantageous  trade  with  the 
Indians,  soon  reached  England,  and  the  council  for  New  England 
granted  a  patent  of  the  Connecticut  valley  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  a 
puritan  nobleman  and  a  friend  and  disciple  of  Hooker,  who  had 
already  emigrated.  This  grant,  however,  was  soon  after  transferred 
to  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  Lord  Brooke  and  others ;  and  John  "VVinthrop, 
son  of  Governor  Winthrop  of  Massachusetts,  a  man  whose  excellent 
endowments,  high  religious  character  and  great  learning,  made  him 
universally  loved  and  respected,  being  at  that  time  in  England  on 
the  business  of  Massachusetts,  returned  to  the  New  World,  as  agent 
of  the  noble  patentees  and  their  friends,  with  a  commission  to  build  a 
fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Connecticut,  together  with  houses  suitable 
not  only  for  emigrants  in  general,  but  for  persons  of  wealth  and  con- 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

dition.  This  grant  included  the  whole  extent  of  the  country 
"  from  the  Narragansett  river,  120  miles  in  a  straight  line  near 
the  shore,  towards  the  south-west,  as  the  coast  lies  towards  Vir- 
ginia, from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  South  Sea;"  it  being  still 
supposed  that  the  continent  of  America  was  narrow,  and  that  the 
South,  or  Pacific  Sea,  was  easily  attainable  from  the  Atlantic  shore. 

But  before  Winthrop  reached  America  with  his  commission,  settle- 
ments had  already  been  made  on  the  Connecticut.  The  people  of 
Plymouth,  following  the  advice  of  the  friendly  sachem,  built  a  trading 
house  at  a  place  called  Windsor,  and  commenced  a  traffic  with  the 
Indians  in  furs ;  and  the  Dutch,  jealous  of  the  English,  had  sent 
a  colony  from  Manhattan,  and  established  what  they  called  the 
House  of  Good  Hope  somewhat  lower  down  the  river.  A  more 
important  movement,  however,  than  either  of  these  had  set  in 
towards  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  of  which  we  must  speak  more 
in  detail. 

Vast  numbers  of  the  persecuted  still  continuing  to  pour  in  from 
England,  the  older  settlements  were  presently  found  to  be  too  narrow 
for  their  occupants,  and,  as  in  the  full  hive  at  midsummer,  a  spirit  of 
diffusion  urged  them  abroad.  The  people  of  Dorchester,  New-town 
and  Water-town  felt  the  first  impulse,  and  lured  by  the  intelligence 
of  fine  pasture  land  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut,  many  of  them 
determined  to  remove  thither.  In  the  month  of  October,  1635,  a 
company  of  sixty  persons,  men,  women  and  children,  set  out  on  a 
second  pilgrimage  through  the  forests,  which  were  yet  pathless  save 
to  the  Indians,  driving  their  cattle  before  them,  and  taking  with 
them  merely  provisions  for  the  journey,  further  supplies,  together 
with  their  household  possessions,  having  been  sent  forward  by  sea. 
The  American  autumn  is  generally  fine  and  steady,  and,  late  as  it  was 
in  the  season,  no  danger  was  apprehended.  But  dangers  and  difficulties 
met  them ;  the  winter  set  in  unusually  early  and  with  unexampled 
severity  ;  and  to  add  to  their  misfortunes,  the  vessels  which  were  to 
supply  them  with  necessaries  were,  some  delayed  by  storms,  and  others 
wrecked.  The  history  of  their  suffering  is  appalling ;  a  fe  w  weathered 
out  the  terrible  season,  sustained  by  mast  and  acorns,  and  others 
reached  the  sea-shore,  where,  finding  a  vessel,  they  returned  to 
Massachusetts.  Their  cattle  fared  as  hardly  as  themselves,  numbers 


(1635.)      SETTLEMENT   ON   THE    BANKS   OP  THE    CONNECTICUT.  133 

of  them  perished,  and  the  remainder  picked  up  a  scanty  subsistence 
in  the  woods.  It  was  a  fearful  beginning ;  but  the  Pilgrims,  inured 
to  hardships,  were  not  daunted  by  that  which  would  have  quailed 
the  courage  of  ordinary  men.  The  next  spring,  they  who  had 
escaped  with  their  lives  to  Massachusetts  were  ready  to  return  to 
Connecticut,  only  to  be  followed  by  a  much  larger  and  more  impor- 
tant emigration. 

In  the  meantime  Winthrop,  who  had  arrived  from  England  with 
his  commission,  commenced  to  build  the  projected  fort  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Connecticut,  when  a  Dutch  vessel  appeared  to  take  possession, 
but,  as  in  the  case  of  the  first  settlement  of  the  English  at  Windsor, 
the  place  had  been  held  in  defiance  of  the  Dutch,  so  now,  having  two 
pieces  of  cannon,  Winthrop  prevented  their  landing,  and  completed 
the  fort  without  further  molestation,  which  he  named  Saybrooke, 
after  the  two  noble  patentees. 

And  now,  but  not  without  great  dissatisfaction  to  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts,  the  great  emigration  commenced  to  the  attractive 
valley  of  Connecticut.  The  whole  narrative  reads  like  a  chapter  of 
patriarchal  life  or  a  beautiful  Arcadian  poem.  "  In  the  month  of 
June,"  says  Bancroft,  "  the  principal  caravan  began  its  march,  led  by 
Thomas  Hooker,  '  the  light  of  the  western  churches.'  There  were  of 
the  company  about  one  hundred  souls  ;  many  of  them  were  persons 
accustomed  to  affluence  and  the  ease  of  European  life.  They  drove 
before  them  numerous  herds  of  cattle ;  and  thus  they  traversed  on 
foot  the  pathless  forests  of  Massachusetts,  Mrs.  Hooker,  who  was  at 
the  time  in  delicate  health,  being  borne  in  a  litter  ;  advancing  merely 
ten  miles  a  day  through  the  tangled  woods,  across  swamps  and 
numerous  streams  and  over  the  highlands  that  separated  the  several 
intervening  valleys ;  subsisting,  as  they  slowly  wandered  along,  on 
the  milk  of  the  kine  which  browsed  on  the  fresh  leaves  and  early 
shoots ;  having  no  guide  through  the  nearly  untrodden  wilderness 
but  the  compass,  and  no  pillow  for  their  nightly  rest  but  heaps  of 
stones.  How  did  the  hills  echo  to  the  unwonted  lowing  of  the  herds ; 
how  were  the  forests  enlivened  by  the  loud  and  fervent  piety  of 
Hooker.  Never  again  was  there  such  a  pilgrimage  from  the  sea-side 
to  the  delightful  banks  of  the  Connecticut."  Well  might  Massa- 
chusetts oppose  this  "severing  of  the  commonwealth ;"  well  might 


134  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

she  remind  them  that  "the  removing  of  a  candlestick  was  a  great 
judgment  in  the  church;"  for  this  band  of  Pilgrims  which  was 
leaving  her  infant  towns  "  was  gathered  from  among  the  most  valued 
citizens,  the  earliest  settlers  and  the  oldest  churches  of  the  bay." 
There  was  John  Haynes,  who  had  been  governor  of  Massachusetts, 
and  "  Hooker,  who  had  no  rival  in  the  public  estimation  as  a  preacher, 
excepting  Cotton,  whom  he  far  surpassed  in  character,  together  with 
many  others.  They  were  in  fact  the  civil  and  religious  fathers  of 
Massachusetts  who  were  now  leaving  her."  Hooker,  it  is  said, 
immediately  on  his  arrival  in  the  New  World,  where  he  was  welcomed 
by  his  flock,  who  had  preceded  him  from  England,  determined  on 
removing  them  to  a  new  ground.  There  were  yet  numbers  of  his 
persecuted  friends  ready  to  come  over  for  his  sake,  and  he  wished  for 
these,  as  well  as  for  himself,  more  room  than  the  older  colony  could 
afford  him.  The  affluent  and  beautiful  valley  of  the  Connecticut 
promised  him  all  that  he  required. 

The  Pilgrims  reached  the  place  of  their  destination  in  safety,  and 
fixed  upon  the  locality  for  their  town,  which  they  called  Hartford. 
At  once  they  began  to  build  and  to  cultivate.  The  miseries  of  the 
former  year  tad  to  be  guarded  against,  houses  to  be  built,  and  the 
forest  felled  before  the  land  could  be  planted;  and  through  that 
summer  and  the  whole  of  the  year  their  labours  were  arduous  and 
unremitting.  The  fatigues  and  hardships  of  labour  were  not,  how- 
ever, all  that  they  had  to  contend  against.  They  had  enemies  in  the 
Dutch,  who  saw  with  jealousy  and  hatred  the  steady  advance  of  the 
English  on  their  borders ;  the  country,  unlike  Massachusetts,  was 
thickly  populated  by  native  tribes  of  a  fierce  and  warlike  character. 
The  Pequods,  occupying  the  country  to  the  eastward,  mustered  700 
warriors,  whilst  the  settlers  themselves  scarcely  amounted  to  200.  If, 
was  by  this  bold  and  relentless  tribe  that  that  league  of  extermina- 
tion with  the  Mohegans  and  Narragansetts  was  formed,  which,  as 
we  have  related,  was  revealed  and  prevented  by  Roger  Williams. 
But  although  the  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans  gave  in  their  adhe- 
rence to  the  English,  the  Pequods  remained  not  the  less  inveterate. 
Injuries  and  murders  were  of  daily  occurrence,  and  at  length  the 
settlers  of  the  three  colonies  agreed  to  unite  together  to  suppress  the 
common  enemy.  Uncas,  sachem  of  the  Mohegans,  was  their  ally, 


(1638.)  EXPEDITION  AGAINST  THE   PEQTJODS.  135 

and  after  solemn  prayer  and  religious  exercises,  the  command  was 
given  to  John  Mason,  an  old  soldier  of  the  Netherlands,  who  con- 
ducted himself  so  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  that  "  an  inheritance 
was  given  to  him  in  that  part  of  the  country  as  a  reward  of  his  faith- 
ful service."  "  After  nearly  a  whole  night,"  says  Bancroft,  "  spent 
at  the  request  of  the  soldiers  in  importunate  prayer,  by  the  very 
learned  and  godly  Stone,  who  accompanied  them  as  chaplain,  about 
sixty  men,  one-third  of  the  whole  colony,  aided  by  John  Underbill 
and  twenty  gallant  recruits,  whom  the  forethought  of  Vane  had  sent 
from  Massachusetts,  sailed  up  the  Pequod  river,  now  called  the 
Thames,  on  the  banks  of  which  dwelt  the  enemy ;  and  designing  to 
reach  the  Pequod  fort  unobserved,  entered  a  harbour  in  Narragansett 
Bay.  The  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  sacred  to  religion  and  rest." 
Religion  was  mixed  up  in  every  circumstance  of  life  among  the  New 
England  settlers,  even  when,  to  our  view,  the  very  circumstances 
lacked  somewhat  of  the  Christian  spirit ;  as,  for  instance,  it  is 
recorded,  probably  on  a  Sabbath,  that  while  Stone  was  earnestly  pray- 
ing for  some  token  of  love  which  might  confirm  to  them  the  fidelity  of 
their  Indian  allies,  of  whom  they  had  doubts,  these  allies  came  in 
with  five  Pequod  scalps  and  a  prisoner,  which  was  considered  as 
Heaven's  answer  to  their  prayer. 

On  Monday  the  captains  of  the  expedition  repaired  to  the  court  of 
Canonicus,  the  patriarch  and  ruler  of  the  Narragansetts,  where  the 
young  and  fiery  Miantonomoh,  with  the  chief  men  of  the  tribe,  about 
200  in  number,  were  solemnly  assembled  for  consultation.  The 
English  informed  them,  "  that  God  assisting,  they  were  going  to 
revenge  the  blood  shed  by  their  mutual  enemies."  "  Your  design," 
•said  Miantonomoh,  "  is  good,  but  your  numbers  are  too  weak  to  brave 
the  Pequods,  who  have  mighty  chieftains,  and  are  skilful  in  battle." 

On  the  Tuesday  they  began  their  march  toward  the  Pequod  country, 
accompanied  by  a  considerable  number  of  Indian  allies,  200  being 
furnished  by  Miantonomoh,  who  all  boasted  of  their  bravery,  despising 
the  English  as  "  men  who  would  not  dare  to  look  a  Pequod  in  the 
face."  Approaching,  under  the  guidance  of  a  Pequod  deserter,  a  ford 
in  the  river  where  it  was  said  these  terrible  Indians  came  to  fish,  a 
panic  fear  overcame  the  boastful  Narragansetts,  and  they  fled ;  Uncas, 
however,  and  his  Indians  stood  true. 


136  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  Pequods  had  two  strongholds,  both  of  which  the  English 
wished  to  attack  at  the  same  time,  but  on  account  of  the  distance 
between  them  and  their  own  small  force  it  was  found  impracticable. 
They  encamped,  therefore,  between  two  little  hills,  much  wearied  with 
hard  travel,  keeping  deep  silence,  lest  the  Indians  in  the  nearest  fort 
should  perceive  their  approach.  "  The  night  was  still  and  moonlight, 
and  though  the  rocks  were  their  pillows,"  says  Mason,  in  his  quaint 
narrative,  "  their  rest  was  pleasant."  In  the  night  they  heard  the 
Indians  singing  at  their  fort,  and  exulting  over  the  English,  who, 
having  been  seen  to  sail  past  them  a  few  days  before,  they  believed  to 
be  afraid  of  them. 

Long  before  daybreak  the  soldiers  of  Connecticut  put  themselves  in 
motion,  having  first  commended  themselves  and  their  undertaking  to 
God ;  and  as  the  light  of  morning  began  to  dawn,  they  made  their 
attack  on  the  principal  fort,  which  stood  in  a  strong  position  on  the 
summit  of  a  hill.  "  Then,  commending  themselves  to  God,  they  divided 
their  men,  there  being  two  entrances  into  the  fort  which  they  intended 
to  enter  at  the  same  moment,  when  Mason,  leading  up  to  that  on  the 
north-east  side,  a  dog  was  heard  to  bark,  and  an  Indian  cried  out 
'  Owannox !  Owannox ! '  (the  English !  the  English !) "  The  assailants 
leaped  within  the  fort,  and  the  Indians,  thus  suddenly  awoke  from  pro- 
found sleep,  fought  desperately.  The  Indians  were  greatly  superior  in 
number,  and  for  a  moment  victory  was  dubious,  when  Mason,  exclaim- 
ing "We  must  burn  them !"  seized  a  flaming  brand,  which  he  held  to 
the  mats  of  the  Indian  wigwams.  The  fire  commenced  to  the  wind- 
ward, and  soon  all  the  wigwams  were  in  flames.  Destruction  was 
now  inevitable ;  the  assailants  withdrew,  and  encompassed  the  burning 
village,  and  shot  or  cut  down  with  their  broadswords  all  who  attempted 
to  escape.  Six  hundred  men,  women,  and  children,  within  little 
more  than  one  hour's  space,  perished  in  that  horrible  conflagration 
and  slaughter.  Of  the  English,  two  only  were  killed,  and  about 
twenty  wounded. 

This  is  a  horrible  and  lamentable  story,  the  second  blot  on  the 
noble  page  of  the  history  of  the  puritan  settlement  in  New  England ; 
the  first  being  the  spirit  of  bigotry  and  intolerance,  which  introduced 
persecution  into  the  haven  of  rest  and  peace  which  God  had  given 
them  when  the  despotism  of  persecution  made  them  exiles  from  their 


(1638.)  MASSACRE    OF   THE    PEQTTODS.  137 

native  land.  But  deploring  that  bloody  stains  have  darkened  what 
would  otherwise  have  been  a  pure  and  glorious  passage  in  the  history 
of  humanity,  we  must  continue  this  sad  story  of  the  destruction  of  a 
whole  race. 

In  the  full  light  of  morning  300  or  more  Fequod  warriors  were  seen 
in  the  distance  advancing  from  the  second  village,  anticipating  the 
triumphs  of  their  people.  Proudly  they  advanced,  when  at  once 
beholding  the  terrible  scene,  they  made  a  stand,  tore  their  hair, 
stamped  on  the  ground  in  a  transport  of  rage,  "and  then,"  says 
Mason,  "  came  in  full  career  against  us,  who,  as  soon  as  they  were 
within  reach,  fired  upon  them,  many  being  shot,  and  the  rest,  mad- 
dened with  rage  and  despair,  kept  running  to  and  fro  and  shooting 
their  arrows  at  random." 

After  this  wholesale  slaughter  a  portion  of  the  troops  hastened  back 
to  the  settlements  to  be  ready  for  defence  in  case  of  a  sudden  attack, 
and  the  rest  made  their  way  to  Saybrooke,  where  they  were  received 
with  great  triumph.  The  troops  which  had  been  promised  by  Massa- 
chusetts to  aid  in  this  war  arrived  a  few  days  after  it  was  over,  having 
been  detained  in  consequence  of  the  excitement  which  just  then  pre- 
vailed in  the  colony  regarding  Anne  Hutchinson  and  her  so-called 
heresy.  Wilson,  a  celebrated  minister  of  Boston,  attended  the  troops, 
who  now  joining  their  friends  completed  the  war  of  extermination. 
The  feeble  remains  of  the  Pequod  nation  were  hunted  from  their 
hiding-places,  every  wigwam  was  burned,  and  every  settlement  de- 
stroyed. 

Sassacus,  the  chief,  being  reproached  by  his  people  for  the  mis- 
fortunes which  had  come  upon  them,  fled  to  the  Mohawks,  where  he 
was  slain,  and  his  scalp  sent  to  the  English.  The  last  remnants  of 
this  once  fierce  and  formidable  race  were  killed  in  a  dismal  swamp, 
whither  they  had  fled  for  safety  at  nightfall,  and  into  which  some  of 
their  pursuers  plunged  also  in  their  over-haste  of  slaughter.  Horrible 
was  the  struggle  around  the  midnight  bog  ;  the  old  narrative  reads  like 
a  dreadful  nightmare  dream.  But  we  will  not  relate  its  horrors.  The 
colonists,  as  Underhili,  the  leader  of  the  Massachusetts  forces,  declares, 
"  were  bereaved  of  pity  and  without  compassion,"  and  the  race  of  the 
Pequods  were  annihilated  as  a  people.  Vain  had  been  the  prayer  of 
Roger  Williams  and  the  advice  of  old  Canonicus,  that  the  women 


138  HISTORY   OF  THE  UMTED   STATES. 

and  children,  at  least,  should  be  spared.  Of  those  who  yielded, 
about  200  in  number,  many  were  sent  to  the  Bermudas,  and,  with 
grief  and  shame  we  write  it,  were  sold  into  slavery ;  of  the  remainder 
some  were  distributed  to  the  English,  settlements,  and  the  rest  incor- 
porated among  the  Narragansetts  and  Mohegans.  The  lands  of  the 
Pequods  were  declared  to  be  won  by  conquest,  and  the  tribe  to  be 
extinct  for  ever. 

The  determined  spirit  of  vengeance  which  had  been  displayed  in  this 
war  filled  the  natives  both  with  terror  and  respect,  and  a  long  season 
of  peace  ensued.  A  general  day  of  solemn  thanksgiving  was  held 
throughout  all  New  England,  to  commemorate  this  event. 

Peace  being  established,  and  prosperity  prevailing  through  the 
infant  settlements  of  Connecticut,  the  first  act  of  the  year  1639 
was  to  form  themselves  into  a  body-politic  and  frame  a  constitu- 
tion. "  This  constitution,"  says  Bancroft,  "  was  of  unexampled 
liberality."  The  elective  franchise  belonged  to  all  the  members  of 
the  towns  who  had  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  common- 
wealth, irrespective  of  church  membership,  which  was  only  insisted 
upon  in  the  case  of  the  governor.  The  magistrates  and  legislature 
were  chosen  annually  by  ballot,  and  the  representatives  were  propor- 
tioned to  the  amount  of  population.  So  wise  and  judicious  was 
the  constitution  then  framed,  that,  spite  of  the  advance  which  the 
human  mind  and  the  social  condition  have  made  since  then,  there 
has  been  no  reason  found  to  alter  materially  the  frame  of  government 
then  formed.  No  jurisdiction  of  England  or  the  English  monarch 
was  acknowledged ;  it  was  a  simple  body-politic,  formed  by  voluntary 
association ;  the  principle  of  which  was,  "  to  maintain  the  purity  of 
the  gospel,  the  discipline  of  the  churches,  and  in  all  civil  affairs  to  be 
governed  by  the  constitution  which  should  be  adopted*"  The  legis- 
lators of  Connecticut  were  Hooker  and  Haynes. 

A  second  puritan  colony  had  already  sprung  up  in  Connecticut, 
equally  independent  with  that  of  Hartford. 

In  1637,  two  friends,  "  the  Moses  and  Aaron  of  New  Haven,"  as 
they  have  been  called,  with  a  number  of  puritan  associates  all  of  the 
strictly  Calvinistic  form,  arrived  at  Boston.  These  were  Theophilus 
Eaton  and  John  Davenport ;  the  former  a  man  of  wealth,  who  had 
been  English  ambassador  in  Denmark,  and  son-in-law  to  the  Bishop 


(1637.)       THEOPHTLUS  EATON  AND  JOHN  DAVENPORT.         139 

of  Chester  ;  the  latter,  an  eminent  minister  of  London.  Davenport, 
a  friend  of  Cotton,  who  had  already  emigrated  to  Massachusetts,  and 
who  had  by  him  been  converted  to  puritanism,  believing  that  the 
Reformation  in  England  had  only  half  accomplished  its  purpose, 
and  that  "  it  was  impossible  to  reform  an  imperfect  reformation," 
earnestly  desired  to  establish  a  perfectly  organised  church.  When 
Cotton,  therefore,  wrote  to  him  from  New  England  that  the  order 
there  established  "  brought  to  his  mind  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness,"  he  resolved  also  to  remove  to 
the  New  World,  where  an  opportunity  might  be  afforded  him  OA 
accomplishing  his  long-desired  purpose. 

In  all  his  plans  and  hopes,  Davenport  associated  his  friend  Eaton ; 
and  the  two,  now  accompanied  by  a  number  of  persons  like-minded 
with  themselves,  many  of  them  being  of  the  congregation  of  Davenport, 
arrived  in  Massachusetts.  This  was  an  advent  very  welcome  to  the 
churches  there ;  but  the  new-comers,  like  Hooker  and  his  party, 
required  more  space.  They  had  large  views  of  a  commercial  station, 
as  well  as  of  a  select  church ;  and  after  carefully  exploring  the  coast 
southward,  they  fixed  upon  Quinnipiack,  afterwards  called  New 
Haven,  south  of  the  settlement  of  Saybrooke,  where  they  removed 
the  following  year.  A  strict  sense  of  justice  regulated  the  conduct 
of  this  excellent  colony  as  regarded  the  Indians.  Wishing  to  form 
a  large  settlement,  and  to  maintain  peace  with  the  natives,  the  land 
was  purchased  by  treaty  with  them,  the  new-comers  covenanting  to 
protect  them  against  their  enemies  the  Mohawks. 

A  day  or  two  after  their  arrival,  they  celebrated  their  first  Sabbath 
under  a  large,  spreading  oak.  It  was  on  the  18th  of  April ;  nature 
had  not  yet  arrayed  the  forests  in  verdure,  and  the  preacher,  suit- 
ing his  sermon  to  the  circumstances  of  his  hearers,  took  for  his 
subject  the  temptations  of  Christ  in  the  wilderness.* 

Spite  of  the  provision  which  the  colonists  had  made  for  their  early 
wants,  the  sufferings  and  anxieties  for  several  months  were 'great. 
The  winter  was  long  and  severe,  and  the  early  corn  rotted  in  the 
ground,  so  that  the  process  of  sowing  had  to  be  repeated  several 
times.  They  were  alarmed  by  fears  of  famine  j  at  length  the  warm 
season  came  on,  and  the  rapid  and  exuberant  vegetation  seemed  like 
the  visible  blessing  of  God  in  answer  to  their  prayers. 
*  Sancrolt, 


140  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"  Soon  after  their  arrival  at  Quinnipiack,  at  the  close  of  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  they  entered  into  what  they  termed  a  plantation 
covenant.  By  this  they  solemnly  bound  themselves  '  that,  as  in 
matters  that  concerned  the  gathering  and  ordering  of  a  church,  so 
also  in  all  public  offices  which  concerned  civil  order,  they  would  all 
be  governed  by  the  rules  which  the  Scriptures  held  forth  to  them.'" 

A  committee  of  twelve  persons  was  appointed,  who  chose  seven 
men  of  piety  to  organise  the  government.  Eaton,  Davenport,  and 
five  others,  constituted  the  seven  pillars  of  the  House  of  "Wisdom ; 
church  members  were  alone  allowed  to  exercise  the  elective  franchise ; 
their  first  constituent  assembly  was  held  in  a  barn. 

These  settlers  of  New  Haven  were  the  most  opulent  company 
which  had  arrived  in  New  England.  Eaton  had  been  deputy- 
governor  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  had  himself  been  in  the 
East,  as  well  as  English  ambassador  to  Denmark,  and  brought  over 
with  him  much  money ;  tradition  to  this  day  speaks  of  his  great 
amount  of  valuable  plate,  and  of  a  ewer  and  basin  weighing  sixty 
pounds,  double  gilt  and  curiously  wrought  in  gold,  with  which  the 
East  India  Company  had  presented  his  wife. 

Thus  affluent,  and  favoured  by  Providence  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  settlement,  towns  sprung  up  around  them  and  along 
the  shore,  "  each  being,  like  the  parent  New  Haven,  a  House  of 
"Wisdom  resting  on  its  seven  pillars,  and  aspiring  to  be  illuminated 
by  the  Eternal  Light." 


(1633.)          KEPOKTS  CIRCULATED  AGAINST  MASSACHUSETTS.  141 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THE  NEW  ENGLAND  UNION. 

THE  establishment  and  progress  of  the  New  England  states  were 
watched  with  deep  interest  in  the  mother-country,  where  the  colonists 
themselves  had  so  many  remaining  ties,  and  where  persecution  still 
continuing  unabated,  prepared  thousands  to  follow,  and  to  become 
heroes  and  adventurers  for  Christ's  sake.  A  letter  from  New  England 
in  those  days,  we  are  told,  was  regarded  "  as  a  sacred  script,  or  as  the 
writing  of  some  holy  prophet,  and  was  carried  many  miles,  when 
divers  came  to  hear  it,  and  to  such  it  became  the  prophecy  of  hope." 
At  the  time  that  to  thousands  of  the  nation  at  large  these  colonies 
were  subjects  of  intense  interest,  the  government  disregarded  them 
as  too  f  jeble  and  insignificant  for  notice,  and  by  this  disregard  the 
salvation  of  the  liberties  of  the  infant  states  was  confirmed.  By 
degrees,  however,  the  importance  of  the  emigration  which  they 
occasioned,  and  the  report  of  dissatisfied  persons,  or  those  who  for 
various  causes  "  had  been  thrust  out "  by  the  too  exclusive  and  intole- 
rant government  of  Massachusetts,  forced  themselves  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  the  ruling  party  at  home. 

In  vain  did  the  friends  of  Massachusetts  in  England — and  she  had 
able  and  powerful  friends— obtain  from  the  monarch  an  assurance 
that  the  people  should  not  be  interfered  with;  the  complainants 
ceased  not  to  clamour,  and  the  high-church  party  was  glad  enough  to 
listen.  "Proofs  were  produced  of  marriages  celebrated  by  civil 
magistrates,  of  the  prohibition  of  the  English  liturgy,  of  a  form  of 
church  discipline  quite  at  variance  with  the  established  law  in  Eng- 
land ;  nay,  even  that  the  colony  was  about  to  disavow  its  allegiance 
to  the  English  crown,  and  assume  itself  the  sovereign  power." 


142  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Alarm  and  dissatisfaction  were  excited,  and  it  was  determined  to 
bring  the  colony  to  obedience.  In  February,  1634,  therefore,  Arch- 
bishop Laud  was  made  the  head  of  a  commission  vested  with  both 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  power  over  the  American  colonies,  by  which 
punishment  might  be  inflicted,  and  even  any  charter  revoked  which 
he  might  deem  derogatory  to  the  royal  prerogative.  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  was  appointed  governor-general.  We  have  already  stated  the 
spirit  in  which  these  measures  of  the  home  government  were  viewed 
by  Massachusetts.  Poor  as  the  colony  yet  was,  it  resolved  to 
maintain,  at  any  cost,  those  liberties  which  were  dear  to  each 
individual  as  life ;  and  £600  were  immediately  raised  for  fortifi- 
cations. 

Restraints  were  now  put  upon  emigration  in  England ;  a  law  was 
passed,  in  1634,  that  no  one  above  the  rank  of  a  serving-man  should 
leave  the  countiy  without  leave  from  the  commission,  and  even  those 
should  first  be  compelled  to  take  the  oaths  of  supremacy  and  alle- 
giance. Besides  the  jealousy  of  the  supreme  power  in  England, 
other  causes  were  now  operating  against  the  colony  at  home.  The 
grand  council  of  Plymouth  having  long  since  made  grants  of  all  the 
lands  included  in  their  charter,  and  that  two  or  three  times  over  in 
some  cases,  and  unable  any  longer  to  derive  benefit  from  it,  resigned 
their  charter,  and  as  a  final  act  divided  the  whole  coast,  "  from 
Acadia  to  beyond  the  Hudson,"  into  lots,  which  were  distributed 
among  the  members  of  the  defunct  corporation.  To  divide  the  land 
by  lots  on  paper  was  easy ;  to  gain  possession,  was  quite  a  different 
thing.  A  second  strong  power  was,  however,  by  this  means  raised 
up  in  England  against  the  American  colonies. 

"  Now  was  the  season,"  says  Bancroft,  "  of  greatest  peril  to  the 
rising  liberties  of  New  England.  The  king  and  council,  fearing  the 
unbridled  spirits  of  the  Americans,  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  issued 
a  writ,  in  Trinity  term,  1635,  against  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Com- 
pany ;  and  the  following  term  judgment  was  pronounced  against 
such  of  the  members  as  residing  in  England  made  their  appearance, 
and  they  and  the  rest  of  the  patentees  were  outlawed."  At  this 
moment  Mason,  the  proprietary  of  New  Hampshire,  as  we  have  men- 
tioned, and  one  of  the  prime  movers  in  these  unjust  proceedings, 
suddenly  died,  and  they  went  no  further. 


(1635.)  PERSECUTIONS   IN  ENGLAND   IN   1635-1637.  143 

From  1635  to  1637  was  an  awful  time  of  persecution  in  England. 
Fines,  imprisonments,  the  bloody  cruelties  of  the  lash  and  the 
shears,  the  pillory,  the  red-hot  firebrand  and  the  gallows  reigned 
triumphant;  and  the  suffering  were  impelled  "by  heaps  to  leave 
their  native  country."  "  Nothing,"  says  Milton,  "  but  the  wide  ocean 
and  the  savage  deserts  of  America  could  hide  and  shelter  them  from 
the  fury  of  the  bishops."  But  even  this  last  resource  was  attempted 
to  be  taken  from  them;  and  in.  1637  the  king  again  issued  a  procla- 
mation against  emigration,  and  the  following  year  a  squadron  of 
eight  ships,  about  to  embark  for  New  England,  was  forbidden  to 
leave  the  Thames.  It  was  on  board  some  of  these  ships,  tradition 
says,  that  Oliver  Cromwell  and  Hampden  were  when  this  arbitrary 
prohibition  compelled  them  to  remain  in  England,  where  a  greater 
work  awaited  them.  This  squadron  was,  however,  allowed  to  sail 
after  all,  on  a  petition  to  the  crown  from  the  owners  and  passengers. 
"Whilst  we  are  on  the  subject  of  emigration,  it  may  be  mentioned;  as 
evidencing  the  discriminating  and  uncompromising  spirit  of  liberty  in 
the  New  "World,  that  when  in  1635  several  puritan  noblemen,  espe- 
cially the  Earl  of  "Warwick  and  the  Lords  Brooke  and  Say  and  Seal, 
were  contemplating  a  removal  thither,  they  endeavoured  to  induce 
the  colonies  to  establish  hereditary  nobility,  and  to  make  the  magis- 
tracy perpetual  to  certain  privileged  families.  *To  this  proposal 
Cotton,  in  the  name  of  the  court  of  Massachusetts,  very  pertinently 
replied:  "When  God  blesseth  any  branch  of  a  noble  or  generous 
family  with  gifts  fit  for  government,  it  would  be  taking  God's  name 
in  vain  to  put  such  a  talent  under  a  bushel,  and  a  sin  against  the 
honour  of  the  magistracy  to  neglect  such  in  our  public  elections.  But 
if  God  should  not  delight  to  furnish  such  of  their  posterity  with  gifts 
fit  for  magistracy,  we  should  expose  them  rather  to  reproach  and 
prejudice,  and  the  commonwealth  with  them,  than  exalt  them  to 
honour,  if  we  should  call  them  forth  whom  God  does  not  to  public 
authority."  By  these  conclusive  arguments  New  England  preserved 
itself  from  any  privileged  class,  and  the  English  nobility  remained  at 
home. 

But  now  to  return  to  Massachusetts  with  the  whole  power  of  the 
English  government  arrayed  against  her.  In  1638,  the  lords  of  the 
council  wrote  to  Winthrop,  demanding  from  him,  by  virtue  of  the 


144  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

writ  already  issued,  the  return  of  the  patent,  threatening  that  in  case 
of  refusal  the  king  would  immediately  assume  the  government  him- 
self. Winthrop  wrote  back  calmly,  that  the  colony  demanded  a  fair 
trial  before  condemnation.  It  was  a  cool,  manly  letter,  and  con- 
tained some  remonstrance  and  some  suggestions,  but  under  all  there 
was  a  tone  of  determined  resistance. 

But  before  this  letter  reached  England,  the  cruel  Laud  and  his 
royal  master  had  more  serious  business  in  hand  than  the  subjection  of 
a  contumacious  colony.  The  people  of  England,  no  doubt  considerably 
influenced  by  the  spirit  which  pervaded  America,  had  now  risen  in 
opposition  to  the  government ;  civil  war  raged ;  the  Solemn  League 
and  Covenant  expressed  the  universal  sentiment  in  Scotland.  Liberty 
overpowered  despotism ;  public  opinion  was  mightier  than  ecclesias- 
tical oppression ;  Laud  in  his  turn  was  imprisoned,  and  a  new  era 
was  at  hand.  The  monarch,  whose  throne  was  endangered,  had  now 
no  thoughts  to  spare  for  New  England  ;  nor  if  he  had,  need  he  any 
longer  have  prohibited  emigration.  The  tide  was  turned  every  way, 
and  numbers— among  the  rest  Vane  and  Peters,  the  tragic  deaths  of 
whom  are  familiar  to  the  reader  of  English  history,  who  had  fled  for 
refuge  to  America — now  returned  to  become  actors  in  the  great  drama 
of  events. 

A  change  had  taken  place  in  the  affairs  of  New  England  with  the 
triumph  of  puritanism  in  the  mother-country.  The  Long  Parliament, 
in  which  were  many  members  favourable  to  the  New  England  settle- 
ments, "  sought  rather  to  honour  than  humble  them."  Yet  so  jealous 
were  the  colonists  of  their  precious  liberties,  that  they  refused  any, 
even  friendly  interference  in  their  affairs ;  and  when  in  1642  the 
Westminster  Assembly  of  Divines  invited  over  deputies  in  the  per- 
sons of  Hooker,  Davenport,  and  Cotton,  they  declined,  Hooker  in 
particular,  who  stated  that  he  saw  "  no  sufficient  excuse  to  leave  their 
flocks  in  the  wilderness." 

The  states  of  New  England,  now  freed  from  any  anxiety  from  the 
home  government,  resolved  on  forming  a  union  or  confederacy  among 
themselves,  the  reasons  for  which  were,  "  the  dispersed  state  of  the 
colonies  ;  the" dangers  to  be  apprehended  from  the  Dutch,  the  French 
and  the  Indians ;  the  commencement  of  civil  discord  in  England ; 
and  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  aid  thence  in  any  emergency." 


(1642.)         UNION   OF  THE    STATES   FOR   MUTUAL   PROTECTION.  145 

This  confederacy  included  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Plymouth, 
and  New  Haven,  Maine  and  Rhode  Island  being  rejected,  the  former 
because  "  its  people  ran  a  different  course  both  in  religion  and  govern- 
ment, and  the  latter  not  only  for  the  same  reason,  but  because  it 
refused  to  become  a  portion  of  the  jurisdiction  of  Plymouth ; "  and 
under  the  name  of  the  United  Colonies  this  league  existed  for 
upwards  of  forty  years.  The  terms  of  this  union  assured  to  each 
colony  its  separate  existence,  but  each  was  bound  to  contribute  its 
proportion,  both  of  men  and  money,  for  the  common  defence.  All 
matters  relating  to  the  common  interests  were  to  be  decided  in  an 
annual  assembly,  composed  of  two  delegates  from  each  colony; 
which  was  to  hold  its  meetings  by  rotation  in  each  state,  Massachu- 
setts merely  having  a  double  privilege.  This  measure  of  colonial 
legislation  was  in  fact  an  assumption  of  sovereign  authority;  it 
was  the  forerunner  of  American  independence. 

The  main  object  of  the  union  was  the  security  of  the  colonies 
against  the  natives,  who  becoming  now  acquainted  with  some  of  the 
arts  of  civilised  life,  were  more  and  more  formidable  as  antagonists. 
The  destruction  of  the  Pequods  had  not  secured  peace  to  the  colonies. 
Unfortunately  by  this  time,  too,  an  idea  was  becoming  prevalent  in 
New  England  that  the  Indians  were  of  the  accursed  race  of  Ham,  and 
fit  only  to  be  rooted  out ;  and  hence  a  spirit  of  vengeance  prevailed 
against  them.  In  vain  the  milder-tempered  settlers  of  Connecticut 
and  Rhode  Island  combated  such  a  doctrine ;  their  pity  for  the  hea- 
then was  only  regarded  as  of  a  piece  with  their  heretical  notions.  In 
proportion  as  the  English  became  vindictive  towards  the  Indian,  his 
savage  nature  became  excited.  To  be  the  allies  of  the  hated  English 
drew  down  upon  the  feebler  tribes  the  vengeance  of  their  Indian 
enemies.  The  bold  Miantonomoh  hated  the  Mohegans  for  this  cause. 
He  had  been  taken  to  Boston  as  a  criminal  on  the  accusation  of  Uncas, 
the  Mohegan  chief,  and  now  he  thirsted  for  vengeance.  Accordingly, 
at  the  head  of  1000  warriors,  and  in  defiance  of  a  treaty  with  the 
English,  he  suddenly  fell  upon  the  Mohegans.  He  was  defeated  and 
taken  prisoner,  and  by  the  laws  of  Indian  warfare  death  was  his 
doom.  Samuel  Gorton,  however,  and  some  other  heretical  English 
settlers,  on  the  lands  of  Miantonomoh,  interceded  for  him,  and  his 
life  was  spared.  The  unfortunate  and  haughty  chief,  being  conducted 

VOL.  I.  7 


146  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  prisoner  to  Hartford,  his  fate  was  referred  to  the  court  of  Boston, 
the  cruel  Uncas,  who  charged  him  with  an  attempt  to  bewitch  and 
assassinate  him,  being  his  accuser ;  the  good  services  of  the  forest 
chief  to  the  colonists,  and  the  aid  he  had  given  in  the  Pequod  war, 
were  all  forgotten.  Murder  was  one  of  the  crimes  punished  by  death 
among  the  Puritans,  and  as  they  themselves  had  on  one  occasion  put 
to  death  two  of  their  own  people  for  the  murder  of  one  Indian,  Mian- 
tonomoh,  against  whom  it  was  easy  to  found  such  an  accusation,  to 
say  nothing  of  his  having  in  spite  of  the  league  of  amity  commenced 
a  bloody  war,  was  condemned  to  death  as  a  murderer.  He  was  again 
given  up  to  his  enemy  Uncas,  the  conditions  simply  being  that  he 
should  be  executed  beyond  the  English  boundaries,  and  that  no  tor- 
ture should  accompany  his  death.  Uncas  conveyed  him  back  to  the 
place  whence  he  was  taken,  and  then  one  of  his  men  marching 
behind  him  clove  his  head  with  a  hatchet,  and  he  fell  dead  with  the 
blow.  Such  was  the  hard  fate  of  one  of  the  noblest  chiefs  of  the 
wilderness,  "  the  fast  friend  of  the  exiles  of  Massachusetts,  the  fathers 
of  Rhode  Island."  Later  and  more  enlightened  times  have  attempted 
in  some  measure  to  evince  respect  to  this  bold  and  ill-used  chief; 
Cooper  has  written  of  him,  and  a  block  of  granite  inscribed  with  his 
name  now  marks  the  spot  where  he  fell.  It  was  about  this  time,  and 
in  consequence  of  the  unquiet  state  of  the  Indians,  that  a  law  was 
passed,  requiring  all  towns  to  be  well  provided  with  powder,  "  and 
hence,"  says  Hildreth,  "  the  origin  of  those  powder-houses,  perched 
on  some  lonely  hill,  which  formed  in  past  years  marked  objects  in 
the  New  England  landscape." 

Whilst  the  confederate  colonies  were  thus  strengthening  themselves, 
the  people  of  Rhode  Island  resolved  to  obtain  from  the  mother-country 
an  acknowledgment  as  a  separate  state.  We  have  already  mentioned 
that  Roger  Williams  succeeded  in  this  important  object,  through  his 
powerful  friend  Henry  Vane.  But  Williams,  independent  of  any 
political  partizanship,  was  already  favourably  known  in  England  from 
his  printed  work  on  the  Indian  language,  "  the  like  whereof  was  not 
extant  in  any  part  of  America."  This,  arid  his  merits  as  a  missionary, 
induced  both  houses  of  parliament  to  grant  to  him  and  his  friends,  "  a 
free  and  absolute  charter  of  civil  government  for  those  parts  of  his 
abode.  The  places  of  refuge  for  soul-liberty  on  the  Narragansett 


(1642.)  ROGER   WILLIAMS   AND   RHODE    ISLAND.  147 

Bay  were  thus  incorporated  with  Ml  power  and  authority  to  rule 
themselves." 

Williams  returned  triumphantly  to  New  England,  now  landing  in 
Boston,  whence  he  had  not  been  allowed  to  sail,  with  letters  from  the 
parliament,  which  demanded  his  safety  and  good  reception.  "  As  he 
approached  Seekonk  the  water  was  covered  with  boats  ;  all  the  people 
of  Providence  had  come  out  to  meet  him.  Receiving  their  successful 
ambassador,  the  group  of  boats  started  for  the  opposite  shore,  and  as 
they  paddled  across  the  stream,  Roger  Williams,  placed  in  the  centre 
of  his  grateful  fellow -citizens  and  glowing  with  the  purest  joy,  was 
elevated  arid  transported  out  of  himself."  It  is  pleasant  to  record  such 
an  incident  in  the  life  of  a  good  and  great  man. 

Again,  in  a  moment  of  danger  to  the  little  state,  Williams  was  sent 
to  London  to  negotiate  for  its  safety,  which  he  again  did  successfully. 
And  now  came  a  trial  of  his  virtue  in  a  new  form.     The  General 
Assembly,  grateful  to  Roger  Williams  for  the  services  which  he  had 
ever  rendered  the  state  of  which  he  was  the  founder,  desired  that  he 
should  obtain  from  England  an  appointment  of  governor  of  the  colony. 
But  "  he  refused  to  sanction  a  measure  which  would  have  furnished 
a  dangerous  precedent,  and  was  content  with  the  honour  of  doing 
good."    The  government  of  Rhode  Island  remained  a  pure  democracy, 
ever  anxious,  to  use  the  words  of  its  own  records,  "  not  to  prove  an 
anarchy,  and  so  a  common  tyranny."     To  the  orthodox  states  of  New 
England,  Rhode  Island  appeared  as  an  anarchy,  and  nothing  but  des- 
truction was  foretold  for  it ;  the  towns,  it  was  said,  "  were  full  of 
Anabaptists,  Antinomians  and  infidels,  so  that,  if  a  man  chance  to  lose 
his  religious  creed,  he  may  be  sure  of  finding  it  again  in  some  village 
of  Rhode  Island."     But  all  went  well  in  the  end ;  "  good  men,  inde- 
pendent of  creeds,  were  chosen  to  administer  the  government,  and  the 
spirit  of  mercy,  liberality,  and  wisdom  was  impressed  on  its  legisla- 
tion." 

As  the  laws  and  customs  of  a  people  infallibly  reflect  its  life,  cha- 
racter, and  circumstances,  we  will  here  give  a  few  examples  from  the 
legislative  books  of  New  England.  "  A  fundamental  law  of  Massa- 
chusetts enacted  that  all  strangers  professing  the  Christian  religion 
and  fleeing  thither  should  be  supported  at  the  public  charge  till  other 
provision  could  be  made  for  them.  This  law,  however,  did  not  apply 


148  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

to  Jesuits  or  popish  priests,  who  were  subjected  to  banishment,  and 
death  in  case  of  their  return.     Defensive  war  only  was  considered 
allowable;   blasphemy,  idolatry  and  witchcraft,  like  murder,  were 
capital  offences ;    gaming   was  prohibited ;    intemperance  and    all 
immorality  was  severely  punished ;  interest  was  forbidden  on  money 
lent,  as  well  as  the  wearing  of  expensive  apparel ;  parents  were  com- 
manded to  instruct  and  catechise  their  children  and  servants ;  and 
the  Bible,  wherever  legal  enactments  were  insufficient,  was  made  the 
ultimate  tribunal  of  appeal.     Kegarding  themselves  as  similar  in  cir- 
cumstances to  the  children  of  Israel  who  journeyed  in  the  wilderness? 
they  governed  themselves  in  many  respects  by  the  Jewish  law  ;  as  for 
instance,  the  Sabbath  with  them,  as  with  the  Jews,  commenced  on  the 
preceding  evening,  sunset  being  regarded  as  the  commencement  of 
the  day.     From  the  same  cause  arose  the  prevalence  of  Scriptural  and 
significant  names  in  baptism.     We  have  already  mentioned  such  in 
the  earliest  recorded  baptisms.     Even  to  this  day  we  believe  that  the 
Christian  virtues,  as  among  their  forefathers,  furnish  prevalent  names 
throughout  New  England.     One  unfortunate  result  of  their  adherence 
to  the  Mosaic  code  must  be  mentioned  from  the  important  consequen- 
ces to  which  in  some  measure  it  led.     It  was  provided  by  their  law 
"  that  there. should  be  no  bond-slavery,  villanage,  nor  captivity  among 
them,  excepting  of  lawful  captives  taken  in  war,  and  such  strangers 
as  voluntarily  sell  themselves  for  service  :  none  being  exempted  from 
servitude  who  shall  be  judged  thereto  by  authority."     Hence,  Indian 
captives  and  negroes  might  be  held  in  perpetual  slavery  by  the  laws 
of  New  England,  and  this  before  the  statutes  either  of  Virginia  or 
Maryland  sanctioned  the  same.     Again,  the  union  of  Church  and 
State  in  Massachusetts  produced  all  the  ill-effects  of  such  a  union — 
bigotry  and  intolerance.     "  Orthodoxy  "  and  "  piety,"  so  called,  were 
the  rocks  upon  which  the  liberty  and  true  greatness  of  Massachusetts 
suffered  shipwreck.     We  shall  see  more  of  this  anon. 

Having  thus  brought  down  the  affairs  of  the  New  England  States 
to  the  sitting  of  the  Long  Parliament,  we  will  hastily  glance  at  their 
condition.  "  The  change,"  say  their  writers,  "which  had  been  wrought 
through  their  industry  in  the  wilderness  was  the  wonder  of  the 
world."  Plenty  prevailed  everywhere.  The  wigwams  and  hovels, 
which  furnished  the  first  shelter  to  the  settlers,  were  replaced  by  sub- 


(1642.)    EDUCATIONAL   PROVISIONS    OF  THE   NEW   ENGLANDERS.  H9 

stantial  houses.  The  number  of  persons  who  had  already  emigrated 
amounted  to  21,200.  "  In  little  more  than  ten  years,  fifty  towns  and 
villages  had  been  planted  ;  between  thirty  and  forty  churches  built ; 
and  strangers  as  they  gazed  could  not  but  acknowledge  God's  blessing 
on  the  planters.  Affluence  was  already  following  in  the  train  of 
industry ;  furs,  timber,  and  fish  were  exported  ;  and  grain  carried  to 
the  West  Indies."  Ship-building,  in  which  the  Americans  of  the 
present  day  excel  so  greatly,  was  early  commenced,  the  great  pro- 
moter of  this  branch  of  art  being  Hugh  Peters,  the  successor  of  Roger 
Williams  in  the  church  of  Salem.  Vessels  of  400  tons  were  built 
before  1640,  which  traded  to  Madeira,  the  Canaries,  and  Spain,  touch- 
ing frequently,  we  regret  to  confess,  on  the  African  coast,  and  bringing 
away  cargoes  of  negroes,  who  were  sold  in  the  West  Indies,  there  being, 
it  is  said,  but  small  demand  for  them  at  home. 

In  many  respects  the  present  New  Englanders  are  the  genuine  and 
praiseworthy  descendants  of  the  early  colonists,  and  in  none  more  so 
than  as  regards  education.    "  It  was  ever  the  custom,  and  soon  became 
the  law,  of  puritan  New  England,  that  "  none  of  the  brethren  should 
suffer  so  much  barbarism  in  their  families   as  not  to   teach  their 
children  and  apprentices  so  much  learning  as  may  enable  them  per- 
fectly to  read  the  English  tongue."     That  learning  might  not  be 
hidden,  as  they  said,  in  the  graves  of  their  forefathers,  it  was  ordered 
that  as  soon  as  any  township  contained  fifty  householders,  a  person 
should  be  "  appointed  to  teach  all  the  children  to  read  and  write,  and 
that  after  the  number  amounted  to  100,  a  grammar-school  should  be 
established,  in  which  the  youth  should  be  instructed  so  far  as  to  be 
fitted  for  the  university."    In  1636,  a  sum  equal  to  a  year's  rate  of  the 
whole  colony  was  voted  for  the  erection  of  a  college  at  New  Town, 
the  name  of  which  was  changed  to  Cambridge,  in  commemoration  of 
the  seat  of  learning  where  most  of  the  Massachusetts  divines  were 
educated ;  and  two  years  later,  John  Harvard,  a  man  of  wealth  and 
learning,  arriving  in  the  country  only  to  die,  nobly  bequeathed  one- 
half  of  his  property  and  his  library  to  the  infant  institution.     This 
college  was  hailed  as  welcome  by  all  the  states ;  the  rent  of  a  ferry 
was  devoted  to  it  as  an  annual  revenue  by  Massachusetts ;  and  Con  - 
necticut,  Plymouth  and  other  places,  were  not  behindhand  in  its 
support,  whilst  each  individual  family  was  rated  twelvepence,  or  a 


150  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

peck  of  corn,  for  the  same  purpose.  "  This  college,"  says  Bancroft, 
"  exerted  a  powerful  influence  in  forming  the  early  character  of  the 
country.  In  the  laws  requiring  the  establishment  of  common  schools 
lies  the  secret  of  the  success  and  character  of  New  England.  Every 
child,  as  it  was  born  into  the  world,  was  lifted  from  the  earth  by  the 
genius  of  its  country,  and,  in  the  statutes  of  the  land,  received  as  its 
birthright  a  pledge  of  the  public  care  for  its  morals  and  its  mind." 
And  as  it  began,  so  has  it  continued ;  and  New  England  to  this  day 
is  the  seat  of  the  intellectual  strength  of  the  New  World,  and  from 
New  England  proceed  over  all  the  Union  teachers,  both  men  and 
'women,  of  the  highest  character. 

The  first  printing-press  in  Massachusetts  arrived  in  1638.  It  was 
purchased  in  England  by  Jesse  Glover,  a  worthy  nonconformist 
minister,  who  was  about  to  emigrate  with  his  family,  but  who  unfor- 
tunately died  on  the  passage.  The  press  was  welcome  in  the  colony, 
and  was  worked  by  Stephen  Daye,  the  printer  whom  Glover  had 
engaged  and  taken  out  with  him.  It  began  to  work  in  January,  1639, 
and  it  is  characteristic  of  the  colony  that  the  first  works  which  it 
produced,  were  the  Freeman  Oath  and  a  metrical  version  of  the 
Psalms.  The  first  newspaper  was  published  upwards  of  half  a  century 
later. 

In  1641,  the  settlements  of  New  Hampshire,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Merrimack,  feeling  themselves  in  a  weak  and  insecure  condition, 
petitioned  the  now  powerful  Massachusetts  to  take  them  into  its 
jurisdiction.  The  general  court  granted  their  request,  and  they 
became  incorporated  with  that  colony. 

Although  we  do  not  hear  of  Massachusetts  exploring  beyond  her 
own  immediate  boundaries,  yet  this  was  not  wholly  the  case  with 
regard  to  New  Hampshire  and  Maine.  In  1642,  Darby  Field,  an 
Irishman,  with  two  Indian  guides,  penetrated  as  far  as  the  White 
Mountains,  the  glistening  peaks  of  which  had  long  been  the  landmark 
of  the  mariner.  And  Thomas  Gorges,  the  governor  of  Maine,  the 
same  year,  with  an  exploring  party,  paddled  up  the  Saco,  in  birch- 
bark  canoes,  to  the  same  remarkable  mountains,  and  ascending  their 
summits,  beheld  the  sources  of  the  Connecticut,  the  Andrascoggen, 
the  Merrimack,  and  the  Saco  rivers. 

The  colony  of  Connecticut,  which  was  not  included  in  the  Massa- 


(1643.)          SAMUEL    GORTON    SUMMONED    BY   MASSACHUSETTS.  151 

chusetts  States  Union,  continued  to  increase.  The  town  of  South- 
ampton, on  Long  Island,  acknowledged  her  jurisdiction,  as  did  also 
Fort  Saybrooke,  which  had  been  an  independent  colony  until  1643, 
when  Fenwick,  who  purchased  the  grant  from  the  original  patentees, 
returning  to  England,  where  he  entered  the  parliamentary  army,  sold 
his  interest  in  it  to  Connecticut. 

Massachusetts,  with  all  her  steadfast  virtues  and  her  sterling  quali- 
ties, had,  as  we  have  seen,  many  sins  of  oppression  and  intolerance  to 
answer  for;  Roger  Williams  and  Anne  Hutchinson  were  not  the  only 
victims,  even  before  her  more  wholesale  persecution  began.  Samuel 
Gorton,  who  seems  to  have  been  an  early  transcendentalist,was  banished 
from  Plymouth,  like  the  other  two  apostles  of  liberty,  in  the  winter 
season,  in  the  midst  of  a  snow-storm,  with  his  wife  and  sick  child. 
Like  all  other  heretics,  he  took  refuge  at  Providence,  whence,  after 
much  trouble,  he  and  his  adherents,  having  purchased  a  tract  of  land 
called  Shawomet  from  Miantonomoh,  commenced  a  settlement. 
"Whether  really  Miantonomoh  sold  land  which  was  not  his,  or  what- 
ever the  cause  might  be,  two  sachems  appeared  at  Boston  complaining 
that  they  were  wrongfully  dispossessed  of  their  land.  Massachusetts 
took  the  matter  up  warmly ;  the  sachems  submitted  themselves  and 
their  territory  to  her  power,  and  promised  obedience  to  the  ten  com- 
mandments. The  disputed  land  having  thus  come  into  the  possession 
of  Massachusetts,  Gorton  was  summoned  to  Boston  to  answer  to  the 
charge  brought  against  him  by  the  sachems ;  he  refused  to  obey,  and 
an  armed  force  was  then  sent  to  compel  him.  In  terror  the  women 
and  children  fled  to  the  woods,  and  Gorton  and  his  men  prepared  to 
resist  force  by  force.  The  people  of  Providence  mediated,  and  in  the 
end,  Gorton  and  his  friends  agreed  to  go  to  Boston,  provided  they 
were  treated  "  as  free  men  and  neighbours."  But  though  the  promise 
was  given,  it  was  not  kept ;  as  prisoners  of  war  they  were  marched 
between  soldiers  to  the  governor.  By  him  they  were  treated  as  crimi- 
nals, and  condemned  to  the  common  prison,  great  rejoicing  being 
held  in  Boston  that  "  the  Lord  had  delivered  them  into  their  hands." 
After  a  month's  imprisonment,  they  were  tried  on  the  charge  of 
blasphemy  and  as  enemies  of  civil  and  religious  government,  and 
Gorton  and  seven  others  were  found  guilty.  Many  advocated  putting 
Gorton  to  death,  but  finally  the  seven  culprits  were  banished  to  seven 


152  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

different  towns,  there  to  be  kept  to  hard  labour,  in  irons,  under  pain 
of  death  if  they  attempted  to  broach  "  their  abominable  and  blasphe- 
mous heresies."  Their  cattle  were  seized  to  pay  expenses.  Spite  of 
the  threat  of  death,  it  was  soon  found  that  they  made  many  converts, 
and  they  were  then  banished,  on  pain  of  death,  from  Massachusetts  or 
Shawomet.  Gorton  now  sailed  from  Manhattan  to  London,  where 
the  "  mystic  eloquence  "  of  his  preaching  won  for  him  many  friends 
among  the  Independents,  and  his  complaints  obtained  a  hearing. 

All  this,  however,  spite  of  its  arbitrariness  and  injustice,  tended  in 
the  end  to  the  still  further  establishment  of  the  liberties  of  New 
England.  Two  years  after  Gorton's  removal  to  England,  one  of  his 
friends  returned,  bringing  letters  of  safe  conduct  for  himself,  from  the 
parliamentary  commission,  and  an  order  that  Gorton's  people  should 
be  allowed  quiet  possession  of  Shawomet.  The  government  of  Mas- 
sachusetts perceived  at  once  the  dangerous  position  in  which  this 
order  placed  them.  Independent  of  their  disinclination  to  receive 
again  the  banished  heretics,  such  an  order  implied  that  the  parliament 
had  a  right  to  reverse  their  decisions ;  and  to  admit  this  was  a  blow 
at  the  very  life  of  the  commomwealth.  A  general  court  was  sum- 
moned to  deliberate,  with  closed  doors,  on  the  present  critical 
emergency,  and  the  decision  was,  that  "  allegiance  was  due  to  Eng- 
land, also  a  tenth  part  of  all  gold  and  silver  ore,"  but  that  the 
management  of  their  own  local  affairs  must  be  kept  in  their  own 
hands.  "  If  parliament  be  less  inclinable  to  us,"  was  their  final 
resolve,  in  which  a  threat  was  implied,  "  we  must  wait  upon  Provi- 
dence for  the  preservation  of  our  just  liberties."  Winslow  was  sent 
over  as  agent  from  Massachusetts  to  the  parliament,  in  which  he  and 
Massachusetts  had  many  influential  friends ;  and  so  well  did  he 
negotiate,  that  the  end  was  an  assurance  from  parliament  to  this 
effect :  "  We  encourage  no  appeals  from  your  justice.  We  leave  you 
with  all  the  freedom  and  latitude  that  may  in  any  respect  be  duly 
claimed  by  you."  Thus  did  all  things  work  together  for  the  advan- 
tage and  furtherance  of  Massachusetts.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that 
Massachusetts,  thus  nobly  determined  in  the  cause  of  her  liberty  and 
independence,  was  nevertheless,  at  this  very  time,  so  poor  in  money, 
that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  £100  was  raised  for  Winslow's 
outfit. 


(1648.)      CROMWELL'S  GOODWILL  TOWAEDS  THE  COLONISTS.  153 

In  1648,  a  synod  was  held  at  Cambridge,  for  the  drawing  up  of  A 
confession  of  faith,  when  a  little  circumstance  occurred  which  is 
worth  mentioning.  A  sermon  opened  the  business  of  the  assembly, 
during  which  "  a  snake  came  into  the  seat  where  many  of  the  elders 
sat.  Divers  shifted  from  it,  but  Mr.  Thompson  of  Braintree,  a  man 
of  much  faith,  trod  upon  its  head,  and  so  held  it  with  foot  and  staff 
till  it  was  killed.  «  This  being  so  remarkable,'  says  "Winthrop  in  his 
diary,  '  and  nothing  falling  out  but  by  Divine  Providence,  it  is  out  of 
doubt  the  Lord  discovered  some  of  his  mind  in  it.  The  serpent  is  the 
devil;'"  a  type,  Winthrop  probably  thought,  of  the  Rhode  Island  and 
Providence  heresies,  " '  the  synod  the  representative  of  the  churches 
of  Christ  in  New  England.'  The  devil  had  formerly  and  lately 
attempted  their  disturbance  and  dissolution,  but  their  faith  in  the 
seed  of  the  woman  overcame  him  and  crushed  his  head."  The  follow- 
ing year,  Winthrop,  who  was  then  in  his  tenth  term  of  office  of 
governor,  died,  and  Endicott  succeeded  him. 

In  1651,  Cromwell,  after  his  successes  in  Ireland,  wishing  to  show 
his  good  will  and  regard  for  New  England,  offered  any  of  its  people 
who  chose  to  emigrate,  estates  and  settlements  in  the  conquered 
island.  But  his  offers  were  declined,  "for  the  emigrants  already  loved 
their  land  of  refuge,  where  their  own  courage  and  toils  had  estab- 
lished the  liberties  of  the  gospel,  and  created  the  peaceful  abundance  of 
thriving  republics."  When,  also,  four  years  later,  he  conquered 
Jamaica,  he  offered  it  as  a  free  gift  to  his  favourites,  the  people  of 
New  England. 

The  war  between  England  and  Holland  hardly  disturbed  the 
tranquillity  of  the  colonies.  The  western  settlements,  who  would 
have  suffered  extreme  misery  from  a  combined  attack  of  the  Dutch 
and  Indians,  wished  to  reduce  New  Amsterdam ;  but  Massachusetts, 
which  could  deliberate  more  coolly  and  wisely,  answered,  that  *  the 
wars  of  Europe  ought  not  to  destroy  the  happiness  of  America  j"  and 
peaceful  intercourse  was  still  preserved  with  Manhattan. 

"  The  European  republics  had  composed  their  strife  before  the 
fleet  which  was  destined  to  take  possession  of  the  Dutch  settlements 
reached  America ;  and  though  peace  then  prevailed  between  England 
and  France,  the  English  forces,  apparently  unwilling  to  return  with- 
out conquest  in  one  quarter  or  another,  turned  northward  and  took 

7* 


154  HISTOllY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

possession  of  Acadia — an  acquisition  -which  no  remonstrance  or  com- 
plaint would  induce  Cromwell  to  restore,  perhaps  because  he  knew 
that  New  England  would  be  benefited  by  its  possession." 

We  have  seen  the  intolerance  of  Massachusetts  in  various  cases  of 
unorthodox  opinions.     Neither  sincerity  rior  purity  of  life  could  save 
the  heretical  believer  from  the  merciless  cruelty  of  her  bigotry.     In 
1657,  Clark,  a  "pure  and  tolerant  baptist  of  Rhode  Island,  was  fined, 
with  his  companion  Holmes,  for  preaching  in  Lynn ;   and  Holmes, 
refusing  to  pay  his  fine,  was  unmercifully  whipped.    The  persecution 
from  which  the  Pilgrims  had  fled  in  England  was  no  whit  behind  that 
which  now  commenced  in  Massachusetts.    Blasphemy  was  the  highest 
crime  in  their  calendar,  and  doubt  of  their  faith  was  blasphemy.     To 
deny  that  any  single  book  of  the  Old  or  New  Testament  was  the  infallible 
word  of  God,  subjected  to  fines  and  stripes,  and  in  case  of  obstinacy, 
exile  or  death.     Absence  from  the  ministry  of  the  word  was  punish- 
able by  fine."   "With  reference  to  this  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
we  may  give  an  extract  from  Winthrop's  journal,  on  an  occasion  when 
a  French  deputation  from  Acadia  arrived  at  Boston.     "  The  Lord's- 
day  they  were  here,"  says  Winthrop,  "  the  governor  acquainted  them 
with  our  manner,  that  all  men  either  come  to  our  public  worship  or 
keep  themselves  quiet  in  their  houses ;  and  finding  the  place  where 
they  were  not  convenient  for  them,  invited  them  to  his  own  house, 
where  they  continued  private  until  sunset,  and  made  use  of  such 
Latin  and  French  books  as  they  had,  with  the  liberty  of  a  private 
walk  in  his  garden,  and  so  gave  no  offence."     As  we  are  on  the  sub- 
ject of  this  French  embassy,  wliich  was  of  considerable  interest  to  the 
people  of  Boston,  we  may  as  well  mention  that  Winthrop  sent  back 
by  them,  as  a  present  to  M.  D'Aulney,  governor  of  Acadia,  a  sedan 
chair,  which  had  been  given  to  him  a  few  months  before  by  a  munifi- 
cent freebooter,  one  Captain  Cromwell,  who  having  been,  the  former 
year,  driven  by  stress  of  weather  into  Plymouth,  came  the  next  to 
Boston ;  "  he  and  all  his  men  having  much  money  and  great  store  of 
plate  and  jewels  of  great  value."    We  may  suppose  that  buccaneering 
was  not  offensive  to  the  consciences  of  the  good  people  of  Boston,  for 
we  find  that,  having  taken  up  his  lodging  in  a  poor  thatched  house, 
he  was  offered  the  best  in  the  town,  which  he  refused,  alleging  that 
"  in  his  mean  state  that  poor  man  entertained  him  when  others  would 


(1656.)     PERSECUTIONS    OF    THE    QUAKEKS    IN    MASSACHUSETTS.  155 

not,  and  therefore  he  would  not  desert  him  now,  when  he  might  do 
him  good."  On  leaving  the  place,  however,  he  presented  Winthrop 
with  the  sedan  chair  we  have  mentioned,  which  had  been  originally 
designed  as  a  present  from  the  viceroy  of  Mexico  to  his  sister. 

But  to  return  to  the  persecutions  of  Massachusetts.  "  The  union  of 
church  and  state,"  says  Bancroft  justly,  "was  fast  corrupting  both;  it 
mingled  base  ambition  with  the  former ;  it  gave  a  false  direction  to 
the  legislation  of  the  latter.  The  creation  of  a  national,  uncompro- 
mising church  led  the  congregationalists  of  Massachusetts  to  the 
indulgence  of  the  passions  which  had  disgraced  their  English  perse- 
cutors. Laud  was  justified  by  the  men  whom  he  had  wronged." 

If  Roger  Williams  and  Anne  Hutchinson,  whose  views  and  opinions 
were  comparatively  calm  and  conventional,  called  forth  the  vehemence 
of  reprobation  from  the  churches  of  Massachusetts,  what  mercy  or 
forbearance  could  be  expected  for  the  fanatical,  early  Quakers,  whose 
zeal  almost  approached  to  insanity  ?  None. 

In  July,  1656,  two  quaker  preachers,  whose  names,  to  use  their  own 
phraseology,  "  according  to  the  flesh,"  were  Mary  Fisher  and  Ann 
Austin,  arrived  at  Boston.  No  law  as  yet  existed  against  the 
Quakers ;  but  under  the  statutes  of  heresy  their  trunks  were  searched, 
and  "  though  no  token  could  be  found  on  them,  but  of  innocence," 
their  books  were  burned  by  the  hangman  and  their  persons  examined 
for  signs  of  witchcraft.  After  five  weeks'  close  imprisonment,  they 
were  thrust  out  of  the  colony;  together  with  eight  others  who  arrived 
during  the  year.  Mary  Fisher,  nothing  daunted  by  her  reception 
among  the  Christians,  turned  her  views  toward  the  Turks,  and  pro- 
ceeded alone  to  Adrianople,  where  she  delivered  to  the  grand  Sultan 
the  message  which  she  believed  entrusted  to  her  by  heaven.  The 
Turks,  more  Christian  than  the  New  England  Christians,  deemed  her 
insane,  and  she  went  through  their  army  "  without  hurt  or  scoff." 

A  law  was  now  passed  forbidding  the  entrance  of  Quakers  into  the 
colony;  but  such  a  law  rather  invited  than  deterred  men  and  women 
who,  believing  themselves  the  especial  messengers  of  God,  feared 
neither  the  power  nor  the  wrath  of  the  arm  of  flesh.  The  Quakers 
came,  and  the  horrors  of  persecution  began  in  earnest.  One  woman, 
who  had  come  to  London  purposely  to  warn  the  magistrates  against 
persecution,  was  whipped  with  twenty  stripes.  Some  who  had  been 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

banished,  returned  only  to  be  imprisoned,  fined,  whipped  and  sent 
away  under  penalty  of  severe  punishment  if  they  returned ;  a  fine  of 
forty  shillings  was  imposed  for  every  hour's  entertainment  of  any  "of 
the  accursed  sect,"  and  a  Quaker,  if  a  man,  after  the  first  conviction 
was  to  lose  one  ear,  after  the  second  the  other,  and  after  the  third,  his 
tongue  was  to  be  bored  with  a  red-hot  iron.  If  a  woman,  she  was  to 
be  whipped  with  stripes  proportioned  to  the  repetition  of  the  offence. 
Plymouth,  Connecticut,  and  New  Haven  adopted  similar  laws.  The 
colony,  however,  was  soon  ashamed  of  the  statute  of  mutilation,  and 
it  was  repealed ;  but,  as  was  sure  to  be  the  case,  New  England  was 
soon  all  the  more  actively  visited  by  Quakers.  The  following  year, 
therefore,  by  the  advice  of  the  commissioners  of  the  united  colonies, 
the  younger  Winthrop  alone  dissenting,  a  law  was  passed  banishing 
them  on  pain  of  death.  In  the  province  of  Rhode  Island  alone  were 
the  Quakers  safe,  favoured  by  the  great  principle  of  toleration. 
Again  and  again  the  united  colonies  remonstrated  on  the  privileges 
which  they  here  enjoyed,  and  in  reply  to  one  of  their  remonstrances, 
the  more  sensible  Rhode  Islanders  said,  "  in  those  places  where  these 
people  are  most  of  all  suffered  to  declare  themselves  freely,  and  are 
openly  opposed  by  argument  in  discourse,  they  least  desire  to  come, 
so  that  they  begin  to  loathe  this  place  for  that  they  are  not  opposed 
by  the  civil  authority,  but  with  all  patience  and  meekness  are  suffered 
to  say  over  their  pretended  revelations."  But  Massachusetts  could 
neither  see  nor  understand  the  policy  of  forbearance ;  the  very  fines 
imposed  on  those  who  attended  their  meetings  acted  only  as  a  whet  to 
curiosity;  and  spite  of  finings,  whippings,  brandings  and  cropping  of 
ears,  the  Quakers  came  and  came  again,  and  Boston  of  all  places,  the 
laws  there  being  the  severest,  was  the  most  attractive  to  them. 

In  October,  1659,  under  the  law  which  made  it  a  capital  offence 
for  a  Quaker  to  return  to  the  colony,  Marmaduke  Stevenson  of  York- 
shire, who  related  of  himself  that,  while  he  was  at  plough  at  Skipton, 
a  voice  called  to  him  saying,  "  I  have  ordained  thee  to  be  a  prophet 
to  the  nations ;"  William  Robinson  of  London,  who  had  already 
been  whipped,  and  Mary  Dyer,  the  widow  of  the  late  recorder  of 
Providence,  and  a  friend  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  were  all  found  guilty 
of  "  rebellion,  sedition,  and  presumptuously  obtruding  themselves  into 
the  colony  after  banishment  on  pain  of  death."  Mary  Dyer  was 


(1659.)  VAIN  AND  BARBAROUS  ATTEMPTS  TO  SILENCE  THE  QUAKERS.    157 

carried  to  the  gallows  with  the  rope  round  her  neck,  where  she 
witnessed  the  execution  of  her  friends,  after  which  she  was  reprieved ; 
but  the  reprieve  was  hardly  welcome ;  "  Let  me  suffer  as  my  brethren," 
said  she,  "unless  you  will  annul  your  wicked  law!"  The  govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts,  in  excuse  for  these  extreme  measures,  asserted, 
that  "they  sought  not  the  death  bat  the  absence  of  the  Quakers;" 
and  when,  some  months  later,  Mary  Dyer,  "  impelled,"  as  she  said, 
"  by  the  Spirit,"  returned  to  testify  against  "  the  bloody  town  of 
Boston,"  they  thought  it  necessary  to  vindicate  their  authority  by 
hanging  her  as  they  had  done  the  others. 

Vain  were  all  these  barbarities  to  put  down  quakerism,  or  to  keep 
"  the  accursed  sect "  out  of  the  puritan  borders  ;  for  as  Wendlock 
Christopherson,  who  having  returned  in  defiance  of  the  sentence 
of  death,  now  standing  face  to  face  with  his  stern  and  pitiless 
iudges,  said:  "  for  the  last  man  that  was  put  to  death  there  are 
five  come  in  his  room ;  and  if  you  have  power  to  take  my  life 
from  me,  God  can  raise  up  the  same  principle  of  life  in  ten  of  his 
servants,  and  send  them  among  you  in  my  room,  that  you  may  have 
torment  upon  torment."  Whether  it  was  the  fear  of  this  Hydra- 
headed  quakerism,  or  whether  God  prevented  them  from  taking  his 
life,  he  too  was  reprieved  after  sentence  of  death,  and  finally  set  at 
liberty.  Little  mercy,  however,  prevailed  generally;  the  prisons 
were  full  of  Quakers,  men.  women,  and  even  children,  as  in  the  case 
of  Patience  Scott,  a  girl  of  eleven,  and  the  hangman's  whip  seemed 
never  to  have  done  its  work.  At  length  the  compassion  of  the  people 
generally  was  so  much  excited,  that  night  and  day  such  crowds 
gathered  round  the  prison  to  condole  with  and  to  hear  the  Quakers, 
who  preached  through  the  bars,  that  a  guard  was  placed  round  its 
walls  to  keep  the  people  off. 

The  last  Quaker  that  suffered  death  was  William  Ledra ;  he  too 
had  returned  after  sentence  of  banishment  j  and  being  again  offered 
his  life,  on  condition  of  his  leaving  the  country,  replied  that  he  was 
willing  to  die ;  and,  accordingly,  in  March  1660,  he  was  executed. 
Imprisonment  went  on,  and  whipping  at  the  cart's-tail  began,  but 
the  poor  Quakers  were  as  determined  as  ever ;  and  in  proportion  as 
the  magistrates  were  more  cruel,  they  became  more  infatuated. 
Strange  that  the  rulers  did  not  see  that  the  one  excess  was  the  result 


158  H1ST011Y   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

of  the  other !  They  entered  the  congregations  during  the  time  of 
worship,  and  denounced  the  preaching  to  be  an  abomination  to  the 
Lord.  They  went  through  the  streets  crying  out  that  the  day  of  the 
Lord's  vengeance  was  at  hand ;  and  one  woman  even,  otherwise 
decorous,  forgot  the  natural  modesty  and  self-respect  of  her  sex  so 
far  as  to  appear  naked  in  the  streets.  To  what  extent  this  mad  zeal 
might  have  gone  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  bigotry  of  punishment  and 
persecution  on  the  other,  there  is  no  saying.  But  the  one  died  gradually 
and  naturally  away,  when  the  other  ceased,  in  consequence  of  an 
order  from  Charles  II.  in  1661,  the  report  of  these  atrocities  having 
reached  England,  when  it  was  ordered  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to 
all  capital  or  corporeal  punishment  of  the  people  called  "  Quakers." 

While  persecution  was  thus  outraging  the  spirit  of  Christianity,  a 
noble  apostle  of  Christ  was  labouring  in  the  divine  spirit  of  his 
Great  Master,  and  to  him  we  will  now  turn,  glad  to  leave  so  hideous 
an  aspect  of  religion  for  another  beautiful  in  the  love  of  Christ.  We 
refer  to  John  Eliot,  the  missionary  of  the  Indians. 

The  first  colonists  hoped  to  have  incorporated  the  Indians  into 
their  own  commonwealth;  and  their  charters  provided  for  assign- 
ments of  land  to  any  such  Indians  as  might  become  civilised.  The 
pilgrims  entertained  the  wish  to  Christianise  the  natives.  "  Alas ! " 
said  the  good  Robinson,  when  he  heard  of  the  first  slaughter  of  the 
Indians,  "  that  you  had  not  converted  some  before  you  killed  any  !" 
Unfortunately,  however,  the  Puritans,  as  we  have  said,  regarding 
themselves  as  typified  by  the  chosen  Israelites,  soon  began  to  regard 
the  natives  as  equally  typified  by  the  native  tribes  of  Canaan  ;  and 
a  spirit  of  pride  taking  place  of  the  former  spirit  of  love,  it  was 
suggested  "  that  the  Indians  might  be,  naturally  as  well  as  figuratively, 
the  children  of  the  devil,"  and  by  degrees,  they  were  treated  as  such 
with  contempt  and  abhorrence.  Before,  however,  this  evil  fruit 
loaded  a  once  goodly  tree,  John  Eliot,  the  minister  of  Roxbury, 
distinguished  himself  by  his  Christian  labours  among  these  children 
of  the  wilderness.  Eliot  began  to  preach  to  the  Indians  in  1646, 
when  he  was  about  forty  years  of  age.  "  His  benevolence,"  says 
Bancroft,  "  almost  amounted  to  genius.  An  Indian  grammar  was  a 
pledge  of  his  earnestness ;  the  pledge  was  redeemed  by  his  preparing 
and  publishing  a  translation  of  the  whole  Bible  into  the  Massachusetts 


(1650.)       JOHN  ELIOT'S  EXERTIONS  AMONG  THE  INDIANS.  159 

dialect.  His  actions,  his  thoughts,  his  desires,  all  wore  the  hues  of 
disinterested  love. 

"  Eliot  mixed  with  the  Indians  ;  he  spoke  to  them  of  God,  and  of 
the  soul,  and  explained  the  virtues  of  self-denial.  He  became  their 
lawgiver.  He  taught  the  women  to  spin,  the  men  to  dig  the  ground. 
He  established  for  them  simple  forms  of  government ;  and  in  spite  of 
menaces  from  their  priests  and  chieftains,  he  successfully  imparted  to 
them  his  own  religious  faith.  Groups  of  Indians  used  to  gather 
round  him  as  a  father  ;  and  now  that  their  minds  were  awakened  to 
reflection,  often  perplexed  him  with  questions  similar  to  those  which 
have  perplexed  the  profcundest  intellects  of  the  world,  and  which 
none  are  profound  enough  to  solve,  nor  was  the  good  missionary  ever 
tired  with  the  importunity  of  their  inquiring  minds." 

The  fame  of  Eliot's  pious  and  unremitting  labours  reached  England, 
where  a  society  was  formed  for  aiding  and  supporting  them.  Funds 
by  this  means  were  sent  over,  which  enabled  him  to  educate  his  five 
sons  at  college,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  one,  who  died 
young,  became  preachers  among  the  Indians ;  as  well  as  to  support 
various  Indian  youths  at  college,  one  of  whom  took  a  bachelor's 
degree ;  and  to  allow  small  salaries  to  Indian  preachers. 

Turning  again  to  Bancroft,  whose  page  seems  to  glow  whenever  it 
chronicles  a  great  or  noble  action,  he  tells  us  that  "  the  spirit  of 
humanity  sustained  Eliot  to  the  last ;  his  zeal  was  not  wearied  by 
the  hereditary  idleness  of  the  race  ;  and  his  simplicity  of  life  and 
manners  and  evangelical  sweetness  of  temper,  won  for  him  all  hearts, 
whether  in  the  villages  of  the  emigrants  or  the  smoky  cells  of  the 
natives. 

"Nor  was  Eliot  alone.  In  the  islands  round  Massachusetts, 
and  within  the  limits  of  the  Plymouth  patent,  missionary  zeal  and 
charity  were  active ;  and  that  New  England  scholar,  the  young 
Mayhew,  forgetting  the  pride  of  learning,  endeavoured  to  win  the 
natives  to  a  new  religion.  At  a  later  day  he  took  passage  to  England, 
but  the  ship  in  which  he  sailed  was  never  more  heard  of.  Such,  how- 
ever, had  been  the  force  of  his  example,  that  his  father,  though  bowed 
down  by  the  weight  of  seventy  years,  assumed  the  office  of  the  son 
whom  he  had  lost,  and  until  beyond  the  age  of  fourscore  and  twelve 
continued  to  instruct  the  natives  of  the  isles  with  the  happiest  results. 


160  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  Indians  within  his  influence,  though  twenty  times  more  numerous 
than  the  whites  in  their  neighbourhood,  preserved  an  immutable 
friendship  with  Massachusetts. 

"  Villages  of  '  praying  Indians,'  as  the  converted  natives  were 
called,  were  established.  Christianity,  however,  scarcely  spread 
beyond  the  Indians  on  Cape  Cod,  Martha's  Vineyard,  Nantucket,  and 
the  seven  villages  round  Boston.  The  powerful  Narragansetts, 
situate  between  Connecticut  and  Plymouth,  retained  their  old  belief ; 
and  Philip  of  Pokanoket,  the  fierce  son  of  old  Massasoit,  the  early 
friend  of*  the  Pilgrims,  maintained  with  pride  the  faith  of  his 
fathers." 


(1609.)  HUDSON'S  FIRST  YISIT  TO  ALBANY.  161 


CHAPTER    XII- 

NEW  NETHERLANDS;    NEW  SWEDEN. 

WE  have  already  related  how,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1609,  Henry 
Hudson,  on  his  second  voyage  of  discovery,  coasted  America  from 
Acadia  to  Delaware  Bay ;  and  how,  on  the  3rd  of  September,  he 
anchored  within  Sandy  Hook ;  after  which,  passing  the  Narrows,  he 
entered  New  York  Bay,  and  leaving  the  island  of  Manhattan,  pro- 
ceeded up  the  great  river.  His  ship  entering  Sandy  Hook  Bay,  the 
first  European  vessel  which  had  ploughed  those  waters,  was  a 
wonderful  object  of  curiosity  to  the  natives,  who  assembled  on 
the  shore.  Hudson  ascended  the  river,  still  the  same  cause  of  wonder 
to  the  natives,  who  treated  him  well,  and  are  reported  by  him  to  be 
"  a  very  loving  people."  Arriving  at  shallows  in  the  river  on  the 
19th,  HuJ.son  anchored  at  Schenectadea,  now  called  Albany,  and 
received  pumpkins  and  grapes,  as  well  as  otter  and  beaver-skins, 
from  the  Indians,  to  whom,  in  return,  he  presented  hatchets,  beads 
and  knives.  On  this  occasion,  too,  they  tasted  for  the  first  time  the 
fatal  fire-water,  which  was  destined  to  have  so  disastrous  an  effect 
on  the  downfall  of  their  kindred  tribes  over  the  whole  continent  of 
America. 

The  Iroquois  Indians  retain  to  this  day  the  tradition  of  this 
wonderful  event,  although  they  differ  as  to  the  locality,  some  placing 
it  at  Albany,  others  at  New  York  ;  but  the  substance  of  the  incident 
occurred,  not  only  at  these  two  places,  but  wherever  the  white  man 
set  his  foot.  "  A  long  time  ago,"  say  they,  "  before  men  with  white 
skins  had  ever  been  seen,  some  Indians,  fishing  at  a  place  where  the 
sea  widens,  espied  something  at  a  distance  moving  on  the  water. 
They  hurried  ashore,  called  together  their  neighbours,  and  all  stood 


162  HISTORY  OF  THE   UJSITED   STATES. 

to  watch  this  wonderful  apparition.  They  could  not  tell  what  it 
was  ;  some  thought  it  was  a  large  fish,  others  a  large  wigwam  float- 
ing. As  it  appeared  to  approach  the  land,  runners  were  sent  in  all 
directions  with  the  news  to  their  scattered  chiefs,  that  they  might 
send  off  for  their  warriors  and  wise  men.  In  a  short  time  all  were 
there,  and  the  conclusion  was,  that  it  was  the  Manitou,  or  Great 
Spirit,  who  was  ahout  to  visit  them.  They  were  not  afraid  that  the 
Great  Spirit  would  hurt  them ;  nevertheless  a  great  awe  fell  upon 
them. 

"  The  chiefs  assembled  to  consult  how  Manitou  could  he  best  received, 
and  meat  was  prepared  for  sacrifice.  The  women,  in  the  meantime, 
prepared  the  best  of  victuals,  and  the  conjurers  tried  all  their  arts  to 
discover  what  the  marvel  portended.  The  idols  were  put  in  order, 
and  a  grand  dance  was  held,  which,  in  case  he  might  be  angry,  it 
was  hoped  would  please  him. 

"  Whilst  all  this  was  going  on,  other  runners  arrived,  who  had 
also  perceived  the  strange  apparition,  and  now  thronged  to  that  part 
of  the  shore  at  which  it  appeared  to  be  aiming.  As  it  neared  the 
shore,  it  was  declared  to  be  a  great  canoe,  full  of  living  creatures,  and 
all  were  now  convinced  that  it  was  indeed  Manitou,  '  bringing  some 
new  kind  of  game.' 

"  The  vessel,  now  within  ear-shot  of  the  shore,  hails  the  natives  in 
a  language  they  had  never  heard  before  ;  and  they  answer  by  a  yell 
and  a  shout.  The  great  canoe  stops;  a  smaller  canoe  comes  on 
shore,  bearing  a  man  clothed  in  red,  who  had  been  observed  standing 
on  the  great  canoe ;  the  chiefs  and  the  wise  men  form  a  circle,  and 
the  red  man  and  two  attendants  approach.  He  salutes  them  with  a 
friendly  countenance,  and  they  return  his  salutation  in  the  same 
manner.  They  are  amazed  at  his  appearance,  and  believe  all  the 
more  that  it  is  the  Great  Manitou,  though  the  white  skin  is  a  sign 
which  they  had  not  expected* 

"  The  servants  of  the  supposed  Manitou  produced  a  large  bottle, 
and  a  liquor  was  poured  into  a  small  glass,  which  the  Manitou 
emptied,  and  which,  on  its  being  refilled,  he  handed  to  the  chief 
nearest  to  him.  The  chief  took  it,  smelt  it,  and  passed  it  on  to  the 
next,  who  did  the  same  ;  and  so  it  went  round  the  circle,  and  was 
about  to  be  returned  to  the  Great  Manitou  in  red,  when  one  of  their 


(1609.)  MEETING   OF   THE   WHITE   AND   THE   KED   MEN.  163 

great  warriors,  feeling  it  was  a  mark  of  disrespect,  took  the  glass,  say- 
ing to  the  Indians,  that  such  conduct  might  provoke  the  stranger, 
who  meant  kindly  hy  them,  and  that  if  no  one  else  would,  he  would 
drink  it  himself,  happen  what  might. 

"  He  smelled  again  at  the  liquor,  hade  his  friends  adieu,  and  drank 
it  off,  all  eyes  heing  fixed  on  him.  Scarcely  had  he  swallowed,  it 
when  he  began  to  stagger  ;  the  women  cried ;  he  rolled  on  the  ground, 
and  all  bemoaned  him  as  dying  ;  he  fell  asleep,  and  they  would  have 
thought  him  dead,  but  that  they  perceived  him  still  to  breathe.  He 
awoke,  jumped  up,  declared  he  never  felt  so  happy  before,  asked  for 
more,  and  the  whole  company  now  being  eager  to  drink,  drank,  and 
all  became  drunk. 

"  In  the  meantime  the  white  men  went  to  their  vessel,  and  the  next 
day  the  man  in  red  returned,  and  gave  them  beads,  axes,  hoes,  and 
stockings.  They  were  soon  all  very  good  friends.  They  conversed  by 
signs,  and  the  strangers  made  them  understand,  that  the  next  year 
they  would  return,  and  bring  them  more  presents,  but,  as  they  could 
not  live  without  eating,  they  should  then  want  a  little  land,  on  which 
to  grow  herbs  for  their  broth. 

"  The  next  year  they  came  back,  and  they  were  very  glad  to  see 
each  other ;  but  the  white  men  laughed  when  they  saw  the  axes  and 
hoes  hanging,  like  ornaments,  round  their  necks,  and  the  stockings 
used  as  tobacco-pouches.  The  whites  now  put  handles  in  the  axes, 
and  cut  down  trees  before  their  eyes,  and  showed  them  the  use  of 
stockings.  The  strangers  asked  for  land,  and  the  Indians  gave  it, 
being  amazed  at  the  cunning  manner  in  which  they  obtained  more 
land  than  was  expected.  The  white  strangers  and  the  red  men  lived 
contentedly  together  for  a  long  time,  but  the  former  were  constantly 
asking  for  more,  and  still  more,  land,  which  the  Indians  gave  them. 
And  in  this  way,  they  gradually  advanced  up  the  Mahicannittuck, 
or  Hudson  river,  until  they  began  to  believe  that  they  would  want 
all  their  country,  which  proved  true  in  the  end." 

Hudson  descended  the  glorious  river  which  bears  his  name,  and, 
on  the  4th  of  October,  set  sail  on  his  return  to  Europe.  The  report 
which  he  carried  back  of  the  land  he  had  discovered,  though  of  the 
most  brilliant  description,  did  not,  as  we  have  already  said,  imme- 
diately induce  the  Dutch  either  to  found  a  settlement  or  to  pursue 


164  HISTORY   OF   TOE  UNITED   STATES. 

the  discovery.  Hudson  never  returned  to  these  beautiful  shores,  but 
the  following  year  perished  miserably,  in  the  ice-bound  seas  of  a 
higher  latitude,  as  we  have  already  related. 

Although  the  country  around  the  Hudson  was  claimed  by  the  Dutch 
by  right  of  Hudson's  discovery,  still  several  years  elapsed  before 
they  took  formal  possession;  nevertheless,  in  1610,  a  company  of 
merchants  of  Amsterdam  sent  out  a  ship  laden  with  merchandise,  to 
trade  with  the  natives,  of  whom  Hudson  had  reported  so  favourably  J 
and  this  first  speculation  proving  lucrative,  a  regular  traffic  was 
established,  and  a  few  huts  and  trading-houses  erected  on  Manhattan, 
the  promontory  on  which  New  York  stands.  It  was  this  early 
Dutch  settlement  which  Captain  Argall,  the  kidnapper  of  Pocahontas, 
compelled  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  English,  when  he 
returned  from  his  piratical  expedition  against  the  French  at  Port 
Royal,  and  the  Dutch,  too  weak  to  offer  resistance,  submitted,  but 
hoisted  again  their  flag  as  soon  as  he  had  disappeared. 

Unlike  the  early  colonists  of  New  England,  the  first  Dutch  settlers 
kept  no  records  of  their  movements,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  follow 
them  with  any  accuracy.  All  that  is  known  is,  that  in  1614,  the 
States-General  volunteered  to  any  adventurous  company  four  years' 
monopoly  of  traffic  with  all  newly-discovered  lands ;  on  which  a 
number  of  merchants  fitted  out  five  ships  for  trade  and  exploration. 
The  head  of  this  expedition  was  Hendrik  Christiaanse,  who  with 
three  vessels  went  northward  as  far  as  Cape  Cod,  and  the  other  two, 
commanded  by  Adrian  Blok,  advanced  to  New  York  Bay.  Here  his 
ship  accidentally  taking  fire,  he  built  a  yacht,  and  sailing  through 
East  River,  discovered  the  insular  position  of  Long  Island,  giving  his 
name  to  an  island  east  of  the  Sound,  which  it  still  retains.  Blok  is 
supposed  to  have  discovered  the  Housatonic  and  Connecticut  rivers, 
and  to  have  explored  the  Narragansett  Bay,  after  which,  meeting 
with  Christiaanse,  they  returned  to  New  York  harbour,  and  in  the 
autumn  of  the  same  year,  probably,  a  small  rude  fort  was  erected  on 
the  southern  point  of  Manhattan. 

While  Christiaanse  and  Blok  were  thus  engaged,  May  steered  south- 
ward, and  exploring  the  Delaware  Bay,  conferred  his  own  name  on 
the  southern  cape  of  the  present  State  of  New  Jersey.  The  follow- 
ing year  Hendrikson  ascended  the  Schuylkill  in  the  yacht  built  by 


(1620.)  THE    DUTCH    SETTLERS,    UNDER    CORNELIUS   MAY. 


165 


Blok ;  a  small  fort  was  built  at  Albany  on  the  Hudson,  and  Jacob 
Elkins,  formerly  a  merchant's  clerk,  received  from  Christiaanse 
the  appointment  of  commissary  of  these  fortified  trading  establish- 
ments. 

Colonisation  was  here  a  slow  operation.  The  Dutch  as  yet 
appeared  in  America  merely  as  traders,  and  even  in  1620  the 
United  Provinces  had  pnt  forth  no  claim  to  territory.  In  1617 
a  treaty  was  concluded  between  the  Dutch  and  the  Iroquois,  in 
which,  the  Delawares  and  Mohegans  were  also  parties.  This  was 
the  treaty  with  the  Five  Nations,  which  was  maintained  with  good 
faith  for  many  years,  and  by  opposing  a  barrier  of  friendly  Indians 
between  themselves  and  the  French,  prevented  the  encroachments  of 
the  latter. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  the  period  of  the  emigration  of  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  from  Holland  to  New  England ;  yet,  although  at  this  very 
time  religious  controversy  ran  high  in  Holland,  and  liberty  was  out- 
raged in  the  persons  of  her  best  and  noblest  citizens,  Grotius  and  Olden 
Barneveld,  the  former  of  whom  was  imprisoned  for  life,  and  the  latter 
an  old  man  of  threescore  and  twelve,  perished  on  the  scaffold,  we 
do  not  find  that  any  great  impetus,  as  in  England,  was  given  to 
emigration.  The  Dutch  were  traders,  and  nothing  short  of  trade 
could  make  them  move.  As  yet  their  American  settlements  had 
been  formed  under  the  auspices  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company ; 
but  in  1621  a  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  incorporated,  which 
held  a  charter  for  four  and  twenty  years,  conferring  upon  it  the 
exclusive  privilege  of  trafficking  and  planting  colonies  "  from  the 
straits  of  Magellan  to  the  remotest  north."  There  was  here  scope 
wide  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  enterprising  adventurers.  All  who 
now  were  disposed  to  leave  Holland,  from  whatever  cause  it  might 
be,  had  an  opportunity,  and  accordingly  emigration  began  on  a  more 
systematic  plan  than  formerly.  In  1623,  a  number  of  settlers  went 
out  under  the  command  of  Cornelius  May,  who  not  only  visited 
Manhattan,  but  entering  the  Bay  of  Delaware,  ascended  the  river  of 
that  name,  which  was  then  called  South  Biver.  May  took  possession 
of  the  country  for  the  Dutch,  built  Fort  Nassau  in  the  present  State  of 
New  Jersey,  and  being  strictly  just  to  the  natives,  left  a  memory  behind 
him  which  was  long  respected  by  them.  The  country  from  the  south- 


166  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

ern  shore  of  the  Delaware  to  Cape  Cod  was  now  designated  New 
Netherlands.  A  colony  was  established  on  Manhattan,  called  New 
Amsterdam ;  the  Dutch  had  now  homes  in  the  New  World,  and  in 
1625,  the  first  child  of  Dutch  parentage  was  horn  here. 

In  1625,  Peter  Minuits  arrived  at  Manhattan  as  governor  of  New 
Netherlands,  which  office  he  held  for  six  years.  It  must  not  be 
imagined,  however,  that  these  settlers,  like  thpse  of  New  England, 
brought  with  them  an  inborn  spirit  of  political  organisation ;  all  power 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  company,  and  this  colony  was  for  many 
years  merely  an  establishment  of  trade,  where  European  goods  were 
exchanged  for  the  peltries  of  the  Indian. 

In  1627,  the  governor  of  the  infant  Dutch  plantation,  wishing  to 
be  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Pilgrim  settlers  of  New  Plymouth, 
who   had   by    that   time   established    themselves   firmly   and  were 
extending  their  borders,  wrote  a  letter  of  congratulation  to  them,  on 
"  their  prosperity,  praiseworthy  undertakings,  and  the  government  of 
their  colony ;    offering  them  good-will  and  service   in  all  friendly 
kindness,  and  good  neighbourhood;"  and  very  characteristically  closing 
the  letter  by  an  offer  of  "  any  of  their  goods  for  any  wares  which 
they  might  be  pleased  to  deal  for."    In  return,  the  Pilgrims  expressed 
their  thankful  sense  of  the  kindnesses  they  had  received  in  Holland, 
and  their  grateful  acceptance  of  this  offered  friendship.     The  follow- 
ing year,  therefore,  De  Easier,  the  second  in  command,  arrived  at  a 
trading  establishment  which  the  Plymouth  people  had  built  for  their 
convenience,  twenty  miles  south  of  Cape  Cod,  bringing  with  him 
divers  commodities ;  and  a  boat  was  sent  to  fetch  him  to  the  old  colony, 
where  he  came  "  honourably  attended  by  a  noise  of  trumpeters."    A 
league  of  friendship  and  commerce  was  proposed ;  but  the  New  England 
settlers,  who  doubted  the  right  of  the  Dutch  to  the  territory  they  held, 
which  was  claimed  by  England  by  right  of  Cabot's  previous  discovery, 
demurred,  recommending  rather  that  a  treaty  should  be  entered  into 
by  their  respective  nations.     Still  the  utmost  harmony  prevailed ; 
De  Easier  offered  the  aid  of  troops,  if  necessary,  against  the  French ; 
and  advised  them  to  leave  the  barren  soil  of  Plymouth  for  the  fine 
pasture-land  on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut.     "When  he  departed,  a 
number  of  the  colonists  accompanied  him  to  his  vessel  and  made 
considerable  purchases  from  him ;  and  the  New  England  chronicle 


(1629.)   CHARTER    OBTAINED    BY    "THE  COLLEGE  OF  NINETEEN."          167 

records  that  they  traded  together  for  several  years,  to  their  great 
mutual  benefit.  The  greatest  benefit,  however,  being,  that  the 
Dutch  taught  the  English  settlers  the  value  of  the  trade  in  wampum : 
"they  told  us,"  says  this  old  record,  "  how  vendible  it  is  at  their  fort 
Orania,  and  assure  us  we  shall  find  it  so  at  Kennebeck ;"  for  the 
Plymouth  people  had  already  a  trading  station  on  that  river  :  and  so 
in  the  end  it  proved,  they  very  soon  being  hardly  able  to  supply  the 
demand,  making  great  profit  by  it.  The  Pilgrims  seem  to  have  been 
very  plain-spoken  on  this  occasion,  and  even  while  expressing  all  kind 
of  good  wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  their  friends  the  Dutch,  they 
requested  that  their  ships  might  not  interfere  with  their  trade  for 
beaver-skins  in  Narragansett  Bay. 

In  1629,  the  West  India  Company  being  desirous  of  promoting 
colonisation,  a  charter  was  obtained  by  what  was  styled  "  the  College 
of  Nineteen,"  which  offered  to  any  one  who  would-  emigrate  as  much 
land  as  he  could  cultivate  ;  and  any  person  who  should  within  four 
years  plant  a  colony  of  fifty  souls,  to  become  lord  of  the  manor,  or 
patron,  with  absolute  possession  of  all  land  so  colonised,  to  the 
extent  of  sixteen  miles,  or  if  on  a  river,  eight  miles  on  each  bank, 
and  as  far  interior  as  the  situation  might  require  ;  all  lands,  however, 
were  to  be  purchased  from  the  Indians ;  towns  and  cities  were  to 
depend  upon  the  patron  for  the  form  of  government;  yet  it  was 
recommended  that  a  schoolmaster  and  minister  should  be  provided. 
No  manufactures  of  linen,  woollen,  or  cotton,  were  permitted,  lest 
the  mother-country  should  suffer.  The  company,  as  a  sort  of  boon, 
engaged  to  furnish  the  manors  with  negroes,  provided — stipulated 
the  wary  traders — that  the  "  traffic  should  prove  lucrative." 

This  charter  favoured  the  appropriation  of  the  best  situations 
for  trade  by  speculative  individuals,  rather  than  colonisation. 
Nevertheless,  one  of  the  patrons  having  purchased  the  southern 
portion  of  the  present  state  of  Delaware,  a  colony  was  taken  out  by 
De  Vrics,  the  historian  of  the  voyage,  and  settled  on  Staten  Island. 
The  Dutch  now  occupied  Delaware,  and  their  claim  extended  from 
Cape  Henlopen  to  Cape  Cod.  After  a  year's  residence,  De  Vries 
returned  to  Holland,  leaving  Osset  as  his  deputy ;  but  the  new 
commandant  having  excited  the  resentment  of  the  Algonquin s,  De 
Vries,  on  his  return,  found  the  fort  deserted,  the  scattered  bones  of 
his  murdered  countrymen  testifying  of  Indian  vengeance;  and  "De 


168  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Vries  himself  would  have  perished,  had  not  an  Indian  woman  warned 
him  of  his  danger.  Delaware  was  once  more  in  the  hands  of  the 
natives,  and  before  the  Dutch  could  re-assert  their  claim,  they  found 
a  competitor  in  Lord  Baltimore,  who  claimed  it  under  his  patent. 

De  Vries,  leaving  the  melancholy  scene  of  his  former  labours  and 
hopes,  proceeded  to  Virginia  for  provisions,  and  the  following  spring, 
on  arriving  at  New  Amsterdam,  found  Peter  Minuits,  in  consequence 
of  quarrels  which  had  broken  out,  superseded  as  governor  by  Woutei 
van  Twiller.  A  few  months  before  the  arrival  of  Van  Twiller,  the 
Dutch  had  purchased  land  from  the  natives  on  the  Connecticut,  and 
as  we  have  already  mentioned,  established  there  their  trading  station 
of  the  House  of  Good  Hope.  The  English,  however,  claiming  the 
country,  colonists  from  New  England  poured  in,  and  in  defiance  of  the 
Dutch,  settled  themselves  down  at  Windsor  and  Hartford.  The 
Dutch  company  retained  for  many  years  a  feeble  hold  on  the 
Connecticut,  but  finally  were  overwhelmed  by  the  New  Englanders, 
who,  carrying  with  them  the  very  principles  of  organisation,  took 
forcible  and  natural  root  wherever  they  planted  themselves.  And 
now  another  competitor  was  within  their  borders. 

As  early  as  the  year  1624,  the  great  Gustavus  Adolphusof  Sweden, 
the  hero  of  his  age,  and  the  champion  of  the  Protestant  faith  in 
Europe,  entertained  a  design  of  extended  colonisation  in  the  New 
World.  A  commercial  company,  under  the  patronage  of  the  king, 
was  incorporated  in  Sweden,  the  monarch  himself  pledging  400,000 
dollars  of  the  royal  treasure  for  the  purposes  of  its  advancement. 
"  Men  of  every  rank  were  invited  to  engage  in  the  enterprise,  and 
colonists  from  all  countries  of  Europe."  Perfectly  comprehending 
the  soundest  principles  of  colonisation,  the  scheme  of  this  emigration 
rejected  slaves,  "  which,"  said  they,  "  cost  a  great  deal,  labour  with 
reluctance,  and  soon  perish  from  hard  usage.  The  Swedish  nation,  on 
the  contrary,  is  laborious  and  intelligent,  and  we  shall  gain  more  by 
a  free  people  with  wives  and  children."  The  thirty  years  war  was  then 
raging,  and  the  great  protestant  hero  looked  forward  to  his  proposed 
colony  becoming  an  "  asylum  for  the  wives  and  daughters  of  those 
whom  wars  and  bigotry  had  made  fugitives ;  a  blessing  to  the  common 
man  throughout  the  whole  protestant  world."  This  noble  plan  occupied 
almost  the  last  thoughts  of  Gustavus  ;  shortly  before  his  death,  at  the 
battle  of  Lutzen,  he  recommended  it  to  the  people  of  Germany. 


(1637.)  SWEDISH   EMIGRANTS   IN   DELAWARE    BAY.  169 

When  protestantism  and  humanity  lost  at  Lutzen  one  of  their 
greatest  ornaments,  the  scheme  from  which  he  had  hoped  so  much 
was  not  allowed  to  perish.  The  great  and  good  Oxenstiern  extend- 
ing, as  his  master  had  desired,  its  benefits  to  Germany,  the  charter 
was  confirmed  by  deputies  from  the  four  upper  circles  at  Frankfort. 

In  1637,  Peter  Minuits,  the  former  governor  of  New  Amsterdam 
having  offered  his  services  and  his  experience  to  Sweden,  conveyed 
over  from  that  country  a  company  of  Swedes  and  Finns  in  two 
vessels,  the  Key  of  Calmar  and  the  Griffin,  furnished  by  government 
with  a  religious  teacher,  provisions  and  merchandise  for  traffic  with 
the  natives.  Early  the  following  spring  they  arrived  in  Delaware 
Bay ;  and  so  beautiful  did  the  country  appear  to  these  natives  of  a 
rigid  clime,  that  they  called  the  southern  cape  Paradise  Point.  From 
this  cape  to  the  falls  of  the  Delaware  near  Trenton,  the  whole 
territory  was  purchased  from  the  natives,  and  called  New  Sweden  ; 
and  Christiana  Fort,  so  designated  from  the  youthful  queen  of  their 
native  land,  was  built. 

The  Dutch,  by  no  means  well  pleased  to  see  this  new  settlement  of 
strangers  on  a  coast  which  had  so  lately  been  in  their  own  possession, 
asserted  their  claim,  and  might  have  proceeded  to  enforce  it,  but  that 
the  fame  of  Swedish  valour  in  Europe  was  yet  too  great  for  them  to 
venture  more  than  a  protest.  The  happy  Scandinavians  sent  to  their 
northern  friends  such  attractive  reports  of  the  beautiful  land,  with 
its  fine  pasture  grounds  and  affluent  rivers,  which  was  now  the  home 
of  their  adoption,  that  the  desire  for  emigration  was  kindled  on  all 
hands,  especially  among  the  agricultural  population  of  Sweden  and 
Finland.  Settlement  after  settlement  extended  itself;  and  finally, 
in  order  to  maintain  their  ascendancy  over  the  Dutch,  who,  to  restrict 
their  advance,  had  rebuilt  their  fort  of  Nassau  on  the  Delaware,  the 
Swedish  governor,  Printz.  established  himself,  and  built  a  fort  on 
Trinicum  island,  a  few  miles  below  Philadelphia.  Europeans  had 
now  planted  themselves  on  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania.  The  whole 
extent  of  the  Delaware  banks  from  the  falls  to  the  sea  formed  the 
province  of  New  Sweden  ;  and  such  emigrants  from  New  England  as 
had  already  penetrated  thus  far,  either  were  driven  out  or  submitted 
to  the  Swedish  jurisdiction. 

Sir  William  Kicit  was  now  and  had  been  for  two  years,  governor 
VOL.  i.  8 


170  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

of  New  Netherlands,  but  the  country  did  not  flourish  under  him 
any  more  than  it  had  done  under  his  predecessor.  On  all  hands 
difficulties  surrounded  him,  and  he  was  not  of  a  character  to  over- 
come them.  On  the  north,  the  English  were  gradually  and  steadily 
advancing  ;  they  had  usurped  Connecticut,  till  the  Dutch  alone  could 
claim  thirty  acres  round  their  trading  station ;  the  Swedes  were  on 
the  south,  and  even  Long  Island  was  now  occupied  under  a  grant 
from  an  English  earl.  In  vain  did  Kieft  remonstrate  and  threaten  ; 
nobody  seemed  either  to  regard  him  or  to  respect  the  province  of 
which  he  was  the  ruler — nay,  even  on  one  occasion,  the  arms  of  the 
Dutch  were  overthrown,  and,  in  a  spirit  of  derision,  a  fool's  head  was 
placed  in  their  stead. 

Meantime  a  tempest  of  another  and  more  formidable  kind  was 
brooding  and  gathering  strength  over  the  fated  New  Netherlands. 
Quarrels  had  repeatedly  occurred  between  unprincipled  Dutch  traders 
and  intoxicated  Indians.  The  vengeance  of  the  Algonquins  had,  as  we 
have  seen,  annihilated  the  little  settlement  on  Staten  Island,  and  now 
it  was  gathering  its  might  for  a  feller  swoop.  An  Indian  boy  of  the 
Raritan  tribe,  who  had  witnessed  the  murder  and  robbery  of  his 
uncle  by  one  of  Peter  Minuit's  people,  vowed  to  avenge  his  death 
when  he  grew  to  man's  estate.  And  now  he  was  a  man  grown,  and 
thirsted  to.  accomplish  his  vow.  In  1641,  the  first  onslaught  was  made, 
but  with  little  effect ;  the  Raritans  were  outlawed,  and  ten  fathoms 
of  wampum  offered  for  every  scalp. 

Kieft  summoned  the  people  to  deliberate  on  the  public  danger. 
Twelve  men  were  chosen,  De  Vries  being  at  their  head,  but  recom- 
mending lenient  measures,  which  not  being  in  accordance  with  the 
governor's  ideas,  were  disregarded.  At  this  juncture,  the  son  of  a 
chief  having  been  made  drunk  and  then  robbed,  shot,  in  revenge, 
the  first  Dutchman  he  met.  Alarmed  at  this  untoward  incident,  a 
deputation  of  chiefs  immediately  waited  on  Kieft,  and  offered,  as  a 
fine  and  indemnity,  two  hundred  fathoms  of  wampum  ;  urging  with 
great  reason,  "  You  yourselves  are  the  cause  of  this  evil ;  you  ought 
not  to  craze  the  young  Indians  with  brandy.  Your  own  people, 
when  drunk,  fight  with  knives  and  do  foolish  things;  and  you 
cannot  prevent  mischief  till  you  cease  to  sell  strong  drink  to  the 
Indians." 


(1613.)      KIEFT  MASSACRES  THE   INDIANS— THEIR  REVENGE.  171 

Reasonable  as  was  the  remonstrance,  Kieft  would  not  listen  to  it ; 
nothing  but  the  surrender  of  the  young  man  would  satisfy  him,  and 
that  the  chiefs  refused.  Whilst  this  question  was  pending,  a  small 
armed  party  of  Mohawks,  allies  of  the  Dutch,  came  down  from  the 
neighbourhood  of  Fort  Orange,  and  claimed  the  Raritans  as  their 
tributaries.  At  the  approach  of  these  formidable  enemies,  the  weaker, 
though  more  numerous,  Raritans  threw  themselves  at  once  on  the  mercy 
of  the  Dutch.  Kieft,  considering  this  opportunity  too  favourable  to  be 
lost,  spite  of  the  remonstrances  and  entreaties  of  De  Vries  and  many 
of  the  more  influential  inhabitants  of  New  Amsterdam,  determined 
on  a  general  massacre. 

In  the  dead  of  the  night  on  the  25th  of  February,  1643,  two 
armed  parties,  accompanied  by  an  Indian  guide,- crossed  the  Hudson, 
and  fell  upon  the  Indian  encampments,  when  not  the  slightest 
suspicion  of  the  Dutch  existed.  Taken  thus  by  surprise,  amid  the  re- 
pose of  night,  scarcely  any  resistance  was  made  ;  the  noise  of  musketry 
and  the  cries  of  the  murdered  reached  Manhattan.  By  daybreak 
above  a  hundred  were  slain,  nor  then  did  the  slaughter  cease.  No 
mercy  was  shown— men,  women,  and  children  all  perished  alike. 
"  Infants,  bound  in  their  bark-cradles,  were  flung  into  the  icy  river  ; 
and  the  poor  frantic  mothers,  who  had  plunged  into  the  water  to  their 
rescue,  were  mercilessly  forced  back  from  the  shore,  and  both  were 
drowned.  This  fearful  massacre  continued  through  the  day." 

Kieft  gloried  in  this  detestable  slaughter,  and  welcomed  back  his 
troops  as  from  a  great  victory ;  the  colonists,  however,  with  senti- 
ments of  common  humanity,  held  it  in  abhorrence,  and  finally 
deposed  their  governor,  and  sent  him  back  to  Holland.  But  before 
they  performed  this  act  of  justice,  the  consequences  of  his  barbarity 
had  fallen  terribly  on  the  colony.  As  soon  as  it  was  perceived  that 
the  midnight  slaughter  was  not  caused  by  the  Mohawks,  but  by  the 
Dutch,  every  Algonquin  tribe  around  Manhattan  joined  in  a  league 
of  vengeance.  They  thronged  in  from  all  sides ;  and,  making  swamps 
their  hiding-places,  rushed  forth  for  sudden  attacks,  equally  remorse- 
less and  wholesale  as  that  of  the  Dutch  had  been.  Every  village 
was  destroyed;  every  plantation  laid  waste;  men  and  women 
murdered,  and  children  carried  off  captive.  Long  Island  was  a 
desert;  "from  the  shores  of  the  Jersey  to  the  boundaries  of 


172  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Connecticut  not  a  bowery  (farm)  was  safe."  It  was  in  this  awful 
Indian  war  of  reprisals  that  that  noble  woman,  Anne  Hutchinson 
and  her  family,  perished.  Total  ruin  threatened  New  Netherlands. 
Numbers  fled.  "  Mine  eyes,"  says  Roger  Williams,  "  saw  the  flames 
of  their  towns,  the  frights  and  hurries  of  men,  women,  and  children, 
and  the  present  removal  of  all  who  could  to  Holland." 

Kieft,  who  was  a  coward  as  well  as  a  ruffian,  threw  the  blame  of 
this  Indian  massacre  on  an  old  freebooter  named  Adriensen,  and  he, 
enraged  at  the  accusation,  drew  his  cutlass  and  would  have  killed  the 
governor,  but  that  he  was  disarmed  and  sent  prisoner  to  Holland. 
The  remains  of  the  colonists  were  enrolled  into  service,  and  a  solemn 
fast  was  appointed.  Happily  for  them  the  vengeance  of  the  tribes 
was  satisfied,  and  a  deputation  of  the  Dutch,  headed  by  De  Vries, 
met  a  convention  of  sixteen  sachems  in  the  woods  of  Rockaway,  on 
the  5th  of  March,  to  treat  of  peace.  De  Vries  was  led  into  the  centre 
of  the  group,  when  one  of  the  chiefs  arose,  and  holding  in  one  hand 
a  bundle  of  sticks,  thus  addressed  him  :  "  When  you  first  arrived  on 
our  shores,  you  were  destitute  of  food ;  we  gave  you  our  beans  and 
our  corn ;  we  fed  you  with  oysters  and  fish ;  and  now  for  our  recom- 
pence  you  murder  our  people."  This  was  his  first  accusation,  and 
laying  down  one  stick  he  proceeded  :  "  The  traders  whom  your  first 
ships  left  upon  our  shore  to  traffic  till  your  return,  were  cherished 
by  us  as  the  apple  of  our  eye  ;  we  gave  them  our  daughters  for  their 
wives ;  among  those  whom  you  murdered  were  children  of  your  own 
blood."  Here  he  laid  down  a  second  stick,  and  so  continued  his 
accusations  till  the  whole  bundle  was  exhausted. 

A  truce  was  finally  agreed  upon :  but  it  is  doubtful  if  this  could 
have  been  arranged  but  for  the  fortunate  presence  of  Roger  Williams, 
then  on  his  way  to  England,  and  who  not  being  permitted  to  sail 
from  Boston,  was  now  at  Manhattan  for  that  purpose.  Beloved  and 
respected  by  all  the  Indian  tribes,  his  mediation  was  accepted,  and  a 
covenant  of  peace  with  the  Dutch  was  entered  into  by  all  the  River 
Indians. 

But  peace  was  only  of  short  duration.  As  the  Indians  saw  the 
vacant  places  in  their  wigwams,  and  as  one  counted  up  his  father  or 
mother  slain,  and  another  his  sons,  or  when  but  one  member  was  left 
to  deplore  all  the  rest  gone,  an  old  chief  spoke  only  the  voice  of  a 


(1643.)  JOHN  UNDERBILL,  PROTECTOR  OP  THE  NEW  NETHERLANDS.      173 

whole  tribe,  when  he  said  that  the  price  of  blood  had  not  yet  been 
paid. 

In  the  autumn  the  war  broke  out  afresh,  and  John  Underbill,  a 
veteran  soldier,  the  leader  of  the  Massachusetts  force  in  the  Pequod 
war,  though  now  a  fugitive  from  New  England,  was  appointed 
commander  of  the  Dutch  forces.  But  now  as  regards  Underbill  we 
must  say  a  few  words,  though  we  delay  the  course  of  the  narrative, 
as  to  the  cause  of  his  leaving  Boston,  which  was  so  singularly 
characteristic  of  puritan  manners.  Underbill  had  not  only  the 
courage,  but  somewhat  of  the  lax  morality  of  the  old  soldier  of  those 
days,  and  this  latter  circumstance  brought  him  into  trouble.  Spite 
of  the  good  service  which  be  bad  rendered  to  Massachusetts  in  his 
martial  character,  he  was  compelled  "  to  make  bis  appearance  before 
the  whole  congregation  of  Boston  cm  lecture  day,  at  the  close  of  the 
sermon,  and  standing  on  a  form  in  his  worst  clothes— be  who  was  so 
fond  of  brave  apparel — without  a  band,  and  with  a  linen  cap  pulled 
over  his  eyes,  to  do  penance  for  bis  wicked  courses,  and  with  sighs 
and  tears  and  tokens  of  sorrow  of  heart,  beseech  the  compassion  of 
the  congregation  for  one  who,  like  him,  bad  yielded  to  the  tempta- 
tions of  Satan."  Having  thus  satisfied  the  ofibnded morals  of  Boston, 
he  removed  to  New  Netherlands,  of  which,  at  the  bead  of  120  men, 
he  now  became  the  protector.  The  war  continued  for  two  years,  and 
then  the  Indians  sued  for  peace,  which  the  Dutch — who  bad  suffered 
equally  with  themselves,  and  in  which  their  European  neighbours, 
unwilling  to  embroil  themselves,  refused  to  aid  them — were  no  less 
willing  to  grant. 

The  Mohawks,  who  were  friendly  to  the  Dutch,  sent  an  ambassador 
to  Manhattan  to  negotiate  peace,  and  on  the  30th  of  August,  1645, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  Indians,  the  delegates  of  both  parties 
met  in  the  open  air ;  and  in  front  of  New  Amsterdam,  the  sachems 
of  the  various  tribes  of  River  Indians,  the  Mohegans,  and  those  of 
Long  Island,  with  the  chiefs  of  the  Five  Nations  as  witnesses,  and 
the  director  and  council,  and  the  whole  population  of  New  Netherlands 
standing  round,  signed  a  solemn  treaty  of  peace ;  or,  to  use  the 
figurative  and  beautiful  language  of  the  Indians,  "  there,  in  presence 
of  the  sun  and  the  ocean,  planted  the  tree  of  peace  and  buried  the 
tomahawk  beneath  its  shade." 


174  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

NEW  YORK  ;    NEW  SWEDEN. 

THE  treaty  with  the  Mohawks  caused  the  utmost  joy  throughout  the 
settlements  of  New  Netherlands.  In  May  1646,  the  brave  and  good 
Peter  Stuyvesant  arrived  as  governor,  and  the  same  year  Kieft 
sailed  for  Europe,  he  heing  expelled  the  colony  as  the  author  of  so 
much  misery,  the  West  India  company  also  resenting  his  barbarous 
measures.  But  the  vengeance  of  Heaven  seemed  to  follow  him  on 
the  sea,  as  the  execrations  of  the  Dutch  had  followed  him  from  land. 
The  large  and  richly  laden  ship  in  which  he  embarked  was 
wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Wales,  and  he  and  eighty  others  perished  in 
the  remorseless  waves. 

Stuyvesant,  a  man  of  good  education,  as  well  as  a  true-hearted, 
brave  old  soldier,  who  had  lost  a  leg  in  the  wars,  introduced  a  much 
milder  line  of  policy  into  the  government  of  New  Netherlands  as 
regarded  the  natives.  In  comparison  with  the  New  England  settle- 
ments, New  Netherlands  could  not  be  said  to  have  flourished,  nor 
even  had  they,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  with  all  their  trading 
engagements,  proved  a  lucrative  speculation  to  the  Dutch  West  India 
company ;  the  truth  was,  they  lacked  that  element  of  freedom,  both 
politically  and  commercially,  on  which  true  prosperity  is  based. 
Manhattan  did  not  nourish  until  its  merchants  "  obtained  freedom  to 
follow  out  their  own  impulses."  The  merchants  of  Amsterdam,  at 
that  time  the  first  commercial  city  of  the  world,  knew  this  when, 
addressing  their  brethren  at  Manhattan,  they  said,  "  when  your  com- 
merce has  become  established,  and  your  ships  ride  on  every  part  of 
the  ocean,  throngs  that  look  towards  you  with  eager  eyes  will  be 
allured  to  embark  for  your  island."  But  these  words,  though  pro- 


(1650.)  PETER  STUYVESANT,  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  NEW  NETHERLANDS.      175 

phetic,  as  the  historian  remarks,  of  the  future  destiny  of  that  port, 
were  fated  not  to  be  fulfilled  by  the  enterprise  of  Dutch  merchants. 

At  the  time  of  Stuy  vesant's  assumption  of  office,  the  settlers  in  New 
Netherlands  amounted  but  to  about  3,000.  A  few  huts  were  gathered 
round  Fort  Orange  or  Beaverswyk,  as  the  present  town  of  Albany 
was  then  called;  Long  Island  was  still  almost  wholly  uncleared 
forest,  and  "  the  land  there  was  of  so  little  account,  that  Stuyvesant 
thought  it  no  wrong  to  his  employers  to  purchase  of  them,  at  a  small 
price,  an  extensive  bowery  just  beyond  the  coppices,  among  which 
browsed  the  goats  and  kine  of  the  village."  Nor  was  New  Amster- 
dam, the  seat  of  government,  anything  more  than  a  rude  village 
of  huts,  protected  by  palisades,  while  the  fort  itself  could  scarcely  be 
considered  a  place  of  defence. 

A  colony  so  feeble  could  hardly  be  expected  to  preserve  its  borders 
from  the  invasion  of  neighbours  as  vigorous  and  of  as  expansive  a 
character  as  those  of  New  England,  more  especially  as  the  puritan 
colonists  never  scrupled  to  question  the  right  of  their  weaker  neigh- 
bours to  any  territory  at  all.  One  of  the  first  duties  which  the  new 
governor,  therefore,  undertook,  was  an  adjustment  of  this  disputed 
question  of  boundary.  It  was  a  very  difficult  one.  Restricted  from 
war  by  the  "West  India  company,  he  bent  his  efforts  to  negotiation ; 
and  going  himself  in  person  to  Hartford,  a  treaty  was  concluded  on 
the  llth  of  November,  1650,  by  which  the  Dutch  relinquished  their 
claim  to  Connecticut,  and  the  New  Englanders  consented  to  their 
retaining  possession  of  one-half  of  Long  Island.  Poor  as  these  con- 
ditions appear  for  the  Dutch,  the  West  India  company  ratified  the 
treaty,  which  the  English  never  would  do.  Well  might  the  Dutch 
say,  "  the  New  England  people  are  too  powerful  for  us." 

In  1651,  war  broke  out  between  England  and  Holland.  We  have 
already  seen  the  good  sense  of  Massachusetts  in  refusing  to  take  part 
in  it  against  their  Dutch  neighbours ;  but  we  have  not  mentioned 
that  Roger  Williams,  then  in  England,  was  the  means  of  delaying 
an  armament  against  New  Netherlands.  The  Dutch,  on  their  part, 
not  expecting  this  magnanimity  from  their  powerful  neighbours,  and 
aware  of  their  own  incapacity  for  the  contest,  endeavoured  to  pur- 
chase the  aid  of  the  Narragan  setts  in  case  of  attack ;  but  Mixam,  one 
of  the  chiefs,  replied  nobly :  "  I  am  poor,  but  no  presents  of  goods  or 


176  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  guns,  or  of  powder  and  shot,  shall  "draw  me  into  a  conspiracy 
against  my  friends  the  English."  Fortunately,  as  we  have  already 
related,  peace  was  soon  established  between  the  two  European  states, 
r  nd  the  fleet  which  Cromwell  had  sent  out  against  New  Netherlands 
directed  its  energies  against  another  power. 

But  the  New  England  colonists  were  not  the  only  cause  of  anxiety 
to  the  governor  of  New  Netherlands  ;  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware, 
the  colony  of  New  Sweden  was  becoming  an  important  rival  in  the 
tobacco  trade  with  Virginia,  and  for  the  beaver  of  the  Schuylkill. 
Stuyvesant,  therefore,  built  Fort  Casimir,near  the  mouth  of  the  Brandy- 
wine  River,  as  a  protection  of  Dutch  commerce  in  that  quarter. 
This  fort  being  only  five  miles  from  Fort  Christiana,  was  regarded  as 
an  encroachment  by  the  Dutch  j  and  Rising,  the  Swedish  governor, 
making  use  of  an  unworthy  stratagem,  overpowered  the  garrison  and 
took  possession.  This  was  a  fatal  deed.  Stuyvesant  received  orders 
from  the  Dutch  West  India  company  to  make  reprisals,  and  in  Sep- 
tember, 1655,  sailed  from  New  Amsterdam  with  a  force  of  600,  and 
entering  the  Delaware,  found  his  career  of  conquest  so  easy  that  it 
was  almost  inglorious.  One  fort  after  another  yielded;  it  seemed 
incredible  that  these  men  were  of  the  race  who,  with  Gustavus  at 
their  head,  had  filled  Europe  with  the  renown  of  their  arms.  But  so 
it  was;  Rising  capitulated  on  honourable  terms,  and  the  whole 
Swedish  colony— 600  only  in  number,  it  must,  however,  be  remem- 
bered— acknowledged  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Dutch ;  and,  as  a  sepa- 
rate state,  New  Sweden  was  at  an  end. 

Of  the  colony  thus  absorbed — the  colony  tha'  connects  America 
with  the  age  as  well  as  with  the  noble  mind  of  Gustavus  AdoJphus 
— we  must  say  yet  a  few  words,  and  these  shall  be  from  Fredrika 
Bremer,  who,  with  natural  patriotism,  visited  the  site  of  this  Swedish 
settlement,  and  saw  the  few  relics  which  remain  to  this  day.  She 
says:  "  I  was  invited  to  meet  at  the  house  of  the  present  minister,  an 
American,  all  the  descendants  of  the  earliest  Swedish  settlers  whom 
he  knew.  It  was  a  company  of  from  fifty  to  sixty ;  there  was,  how- 
ever, nothing  Swedish  about  them  but  their  family  names.  No  tra- 
ditions of  their  emigration  hither  remain ;  language,  appearance,  all 
have  entirely  merged  into  that  of  the  now  prevailing  Anglo-Saxon 
race.  The  church  clock  alone  had  something  Swedish  about  it,  some- 


(1651.)  HIGH   CHARACTER   OF   THE    SWEDISH   SETTLERS.  177 

tiling  of  the  character  of  the  peasant's  clock.  In  the  church,  also, 
was  a  large  book  placed  upon  a  tall  stand,  on  the  page  of  which 
might  be  read  in  large  letters,  "  The  people  who  dwelt  in  darkness 
have  seen  a  great  light."  This  inscription,  together  with  the  old 
church  at  Willington  in  Delaware,  and  a  few  family  names,  are  all 
that  remain  of  this  early  Swedish  colony  on  the  eastern  shores  of  the 
New  "World.  Yet  no,  not  all.  A  noble,  peaceful  memory  of  its  life 
continues  to  exist  on  the  page  of  history,  like  a  lovely  episode  of 
Idyllian  purity  and  freshness.  The  pilgrims  of  New  England  stained 
its  soil  with  blood  by  their  injustice  and  cruelty  to  the  Indians.  The 
Swedish  pilgrims,  in  their  treatment  of  the  natives,  were  so  just  and 
wise,  that  during  the  whole  time  of  Swedish  dominion,  not  one  drop 
of  Indian  blood  was  shed  by  them ;  the  Indians  loved  them  and 
called  them  « our  own  people.'  '  The  Swedes  are  a  God-fearing 
people,'  said  William  Penn ;  '  they  are  industrious  and  contented, 
and  much  attached  to  the  customs  and  manners  of  the  mother- 
country.  They  live  by  agriculture,  and  the  breeding  of  cattle ;  the 
women  are  good  housewives,  spin  and  weave,  take  care  of  their  fami- 
lies, and  bring  up  their  children  well.' "  All  historians  agree  that 
the  Swedes  who  thus  became  amalgamated  into  the  general  popula- 
tion introduced  into  it  a  sound  element  of  moral  life,  by  which  it  has 
been  improved. 

The  dominion  of  the  Dutch  seemed  now  firmly  established  in  the 
New  World ;  and  the  worth  of  such  a  colony  began  to  be  appreciated 
at  home ;  its  great  extent — from  New  England  to  Maryland,  from  the 
sea  to  the  great  river  of  Canada  and  the  remote  north-western  wilder- 
ness—was a  subject  of  boast.  Emigration  to  the  banks  of  the  Hudson 
was  encouraged.  Merchants  now  were  beginning  to  be  allured  to 
Manhattan,  and  all  presented  an  aspect  of  promise .  for  the  future. 
Stuyvesant,  who,  seeming  to  have  a  high  idea  of  the  prerogatives  of 
governor,  was  inclined  to  rule  with  an  arbitrary  hand,  was  kept  under 
control  by  the  directors  at  home  ;  who,  when  he  took  it  upon  himself 
to  inspect  the  merchants'  books,  checked  him  with  the  reproof  that 
"it  was  an  unprecedented  act  in  Christendom,  and  that  he  must 
behave  well  to  the  merchants  ;"  and  when — himself  a  violent  Calvinist 
— he  inclined  to  persecute  the  Lutherans,  and  imitating  Massachusetts, 
began  to  imprison  and  banish  "  the  abominable  sect  of  Quakers," 

8* 


178  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

he  received  the  injunction,  "  Let  every  peaceful  citizen  enjoy  freedom 
of  conscience  ;  this  maxim  has  made  our  city  the  asylum  for  fugitives 
from  every  land  ;  tread  in  its  steps,  and  you  shall  he  blessed." 

And,  treading  in  its  steps,  New  Netherlands  "became  the  asylum 
and  chosen  home  of  the  oppressed,  the  persecuted  and  the  enterprising 
of  every  European  nation.  Jews  and  Christians  all  crowded  over,  all 
were  united  to  help  in  building  up  the  colony  ;  and  troops  of  orphans, 
made  so  by  war  and  persecution,  were  shipped  to  the  New  World ;  and 
"a  free  passage  was  offered  to  mechanics,  farmers  and  labourers, 
foreigners  and  exiles — men  inured  to  toil  and  penury."  New  York 
was  even  then  laying  its  cosmopolitan  foundations  ;  "  its  settlers  were 
relics  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  Reformation,  from  the  Belgic  provinces, 
from  England,  from  France ;  Protestants  who  had  escaped  from  the 
massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew's-eve,  from  Bohemia,  from  Germany  and 
Switzerland,  from  Piedmont  and  the  Italian  Alps."*  Even  Africa  had 
her  representatives  in  this  home  of  all  people,  though  her  sons  were 
not  there  by  their  own  voluntary  choice.  Among  the  other  commer- 
cial speculations  of  the  West  India  company  was  the  traffic  in  slaves ; 
they  had  their  trading  stations  on  the  coast  of  Guinea,  whence  car- 
geos  of  negroes  were  shipped  to  Manhattan.  Stuyvesant  was  required 
by  his  employers  to  advance  the  sale  of  negro  slaves  as  much  as  lay 
in  his  power ;  these  slaves  were  sold  at  public  auctions,  the  average 
price  being  about  £12  per  man.  When  the  demand  was  not  great 
at  Manhattan,  they  were  sent  on  to  the  puritan  colonies.  Slaves 
who  continued  the  property  of  the  company  were,  after  a  certain  time 
of  bondage,  settled  on  small  farms;  for  which  they  paid  a  stipulated 
amount  of  produce. 

"  The  colony  increased,"  says  Bancroft ;  "  the  villages  were  full  of 
children ;  the  new  year  and  the  month  of  May  were  welcomed  in  with 
merry  frolics  ;"  New  Netherlands  was  not  an  ascetic  colony,  like  those 
of  New  England;  May-poles  and  dancing  were  allowed ;  the  vine  and 
the  mulberry  were  cultivated  j  the  whale  was  pursued  off  the  coast ; 
flocks  and  herds  multiplied,  and  the  tile,  so  long  imported  from  Hol- 
land, began  to  be  manufactured  near  Fort  Orange.  New  Amsterdam 
could,  in  a  few  years,  boast  of  stately  buildings,  and  vied  with  Boston. 

*  Bancroft. 


(1655.)   QUARREL  BETWEEN  STUYVESANT  AND  HIS  PEOPLE.      179 

'  This  happily  situated  province/  said  its  inhabitants,  '  may  become 
the  granary  of  our  fatherland  ;  by  God's  blessing  we  shall  in  a  few 
years  become  a  mighty  people.' " 

With  all  these  new  elements  of  vitality,  a  bolder  and  freer  spirit  had 
entered  the  colony.  The  people  demanded  a  share  of  political  power. 
They  were  infected  by  the  liberties  of  New  England,  and  nothing  less 
would  satisfy  them.  They  assembled,  and  a  petition,  drawn  up  by 
George  Baxter,  was  presented  by  their  delegates,  requiring  "  that  no 
laws  should  be  enacted  without  the  consent  of  the  people;  that 
none  should  be  appointed  to  office  but  with  the  approbation  of  the 
people." 

This  was  an  unheard-of  measure  ;  Stuyvesant  was  indignant ;  he 
had  no  faith,  he  said,  in  the  wavering  multitude  ;  and  then  he  taunted 
them  because  a  New  England  man  had  drawn  up  their  petition. 
"  If  the  people  chose  their  own  officers,  he  said,  then  the  thief  would 
vote  for  the  thief,  the  smuggler  for  the  smuggler,  and  fraud  and  vice 
would  become  privileged.  No!  he  and  the  directors  would  never 
make  themselves  responsible  to  subjects."  The  delegates  attempted 
to  reason,  and  the  wilful  old  governor  dissolved  the  assembly  on  pain 
of  punishment. 

The  directors  sanctioned  the  conduct  of  Stuyvesant.  "  Have  no  regard 
to  the  consent  of  the  people,"  wrote  they  to  him ;  "  let  them  no  longer 
indulge  the  visionary  dream  that  taxes  can  be  imposed  only  by  their 
consent."  But  the  people  obstinately  indulged  such  dreams,  and 
refused  to  pay  obnoxious  taxes ;  and,  even  more  than  that,  in  the 
determination  to  enjoy  English  liberties,  saw  with  no  unwillingness 
the  possibility  of  English  jurisdiction  extending  even  over  New 
Netherlands. 

A  tempest  was  again  brooding.  Although  the  Dutch  still  kept 
possession  of  the  country  as  far  south  as  Cape  Henlopen,  yet  their 
claims  were  disputed  by  Lord  Baltimore,  the  proprietary  of  Maryland ; 
and  in  1659,  that  nobleman's  rights  being  established,  Fendall,  then 
governor,  laid  formal  claim  to  Delaware ;  the  College  of  Nineteen 
of  the  West  India  company  firmly  disavowed  it;  and  Fendall, 
being  equally  determined,  the  directors  declared  their  resolve  to 
defend  their  rights,  "  even  to  the  spilling  of  blood."  Nor  was  the 
aspect  of  affairs  more  pacific  on  the  north.  Massachusetts,  as  well  as 


180  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

New  Netherlands,  claimed  the  territory  adjoining  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Hudson,  and  thence  westerly  as  far  as  she  pleased;  whilst 
Connecticut,  which  had  just  then  obtained  a  charter,  put  forth  her 
claim  to  territory  which  the  Dutch  had  hitherto  held  unquestioned. 

"  Where,  then,"  demanded  the  Dutch,  with  reference  to  all  these 
absorbing  claims, — "where,  then,  is  New  Netherlands?"  And  the 
people  of  Connecticut,  speaking  as  if  for  all,  replied,  "  We  do  not 
know." 

A  homely  proverb  may  seem  inconsistent  with  the  gravity  of  history, 
but  it  may  nevertheless  be  applicable  on  some  occasions,  as  in  the 
Dutch  settlements  at  this  juncture,  when  misfortune  seemed  not  only 
to  rain,  but  to  pour.  These  contentions  with  regard  to  territory  were 
carried  on  during  a  renewed  Indian  war,  which  laid  waste  a  village 
on  the  banks  of  the  Esopus,  many  of  the  inhabitants  being  murdered 
or  carried  into  captivity.  The  approach  of  winter  alone  put  a  stop 
to  these  horrors ;  and  that  which  added  still  more  to  the  misery  of  the 
time,  was  the  fact  that  New  Netherlands  stood  alone  :  none  of  its  more 
powerful  and  fortunate  neighbours  came  to  its  rescue ;  it  had  no 
friends  but  the  Mohawks,  who  said,  "  The  Dutch  are  our  brethren. 
We  keep  with  them  but  one  council  fire  ;  we  are  united  by  a  covenant 
chain."  And  not  only  were  their  neighbours  unwilling  to  help  them, 
but  there  was  no  patriotism,  no  public  spirit,  as  yet  within  the  heart  of 
the  state  itself;  New  Netherlands  could  neither  help  herself,  nor  would 
the  council  at  home  advance  either  men  or  money  for  her  defence. 
Alarmed  and  perplexed  in  this  crisis,  Stuyvesant  was  ready  to  concede 
those  privileges  to  the  people  which  he  had  hitherto  refused.  In  1663, 
a  popular  assembly  was  convened.  In  the  spring  of  the  following 
year  it  met  again,  but  by  that  time  new  troubles  were  at  hand. 
Rumours  of  an  English  invasion  filled  the  colony ;  and  the  represen- 
tatives, seeing  the  paucity  of  means  of  defence,  contemplated  very 
coolly  the  necessity  of  submission  to  this  new  enemy.  "  If  you  cannot 
defend  us,"  said  they,  adressing  the  governor,  "  to  whom  shall  we 
turn  ?  "  And  the  governor,  wishing  to  rouse  a  spirit  of  patriotism  in 
their  souls,  proposed  that  "  every  third  man  should  enlist  for  the 
defence  of  their  adopted  country,  as  had  once  been  done  in  the  Father- 
land." But  the  people  would  not  adopt  his  proposal.  In  vain  was  a 
witty  libeller  of  the  magistrates  fastened  to  a  stake  with  a  bridle  in 


(1664.)    NICHOLS    COMES   WITH   A   FLEET   TO    TAKE    POSSESSION.          181 

his  mouth;  people  would  talk  rather  than  act.  In  the  autumn  of 
1664,  "Long  Island  had  revolted,  the  settlements  on  the  Esopus 
wavered,  and  the  Connecticut  men  had  possessed  themselves  by  pur- 
chase from  the  Indians  of  the  whole  sea-coast  as  far  as  North  River." 
Stuy  vesant  wrote  these  alarming  tidings  to  Holland. 

Whilst  England  and  Holland  were  yet  at  peace,  three  ships,  with 
one  hundred  men,  were  despatched  from  England  to  take  possession 
of  New  Netherlands  in  the  name  of  the  Duke  of  York,  afterwards 
James  II.,  to  whom  his  brother,  Charles  II.,  disregarding  all  previous 
chartered  claims,  had  granted  a  vast  extent  of  territory,  called  NEW- 
YORK,  including  the  country  between  the  St.  Croix  and  the  Pemaquid, 
and  on  the  east  the  region  between  the  Connecticut  and  the  Delaware, 
with  all  the  islands  south  and  west  of  Cape  Cod,  completely  swallowing 
up  New  Netherlands,  and  encroaching  on  Massachusetts  and  Connec- 
ticut. Under  the  conduct  of  Sir  Richard  Nichols,  groom  of  the  bed- 
chamber to  the  Duke  of  York,  the  English  squadron,  having  first 
touched  at  Boston,  where  they  demanded  a  levy  of  forces  for  their 
expedition,  anchored  before  New  Amsterdam,  which  was  totally 
unprepared  for  defence.  In  vain  Stuyvesant  endeavoured  to  rouse  a 
spirit  of  resistance  in  the  inhabitants ;  the  town  was  at  the  mercy  of 
the  English,  and  the  people  were  prepared  for  nothing  but  surrender. 
It  would  have  been  madness  to  have  striven  against  such  odds. 
"Winthrop,  now  governor  of  Connecticut,  and  a  true  friend  of  the 
Dutch,  was  on  board  the  English  fleet,  and  acted  as  mediator.  Stuyve- 
sant, almost  heart-broken,  pleaded  that  "a  surrender  would  be  reproved 
in  the  Fatherland ;"  and  when  the  principal  inhabitants,  who  had 
assembled  in  the  town-hall,  demanded  to  see  the  letter  which  the 
English  commander  had  sent,  he  indignantly  tore  it  to  pieces ;  the 
burghers,  angry  at  this,  drew  up  a  protest  against  the  governor. 

The  next  day,  a  deputation  waited  on  Nichols,  but  he  declined  the 
conference,  informing  them  that  on  the  morrow  he  should  be  at  Man- 
hattan, and  would  see  them  there ;  and  on  a  slight  show  of  dissatis- 
faction added,  "  raise  the  white  flag  of  peace,  for  I  shall  come  with 
ships  of  war  and  soldiers !" 

The  flag  of  peace  was  hoisted ;  and  on  September  8th,  the  life, 
liberty,  religion  and  property  of  the  inhabitants  being  secured,  New 


182  HISTORY     OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Amsterdam  surrendered,  and  the  people  and  the  magistrates  being  all 
agreed,  Stuyvesant  reluctantly  ratified  the  capitulation. 

New  Amsterdam  was  no  more ;  the  Dutch  dominion  in  America 
was  overthrown  by  a  flagrant  act  of  injustice,  and  yet  the  change 
seemed  to  produce  in  the  colony  itself  great  satisfaction.  Very  few 
of  the  settlers  removed  to  Holland,  and  their  wounded  national  pride 
found  its  consolation  in  the  enjoyment  of  English  privileges  and 
liberties.  On  the  submission  of  the  capital,  Fort  Orange,  now  called 
Albany,  from  the  Scottish  title  of  the  Duke  of  York,  quietly  surren- 
dered, and  the  Dutch  and  the  Swedes  of  Delaware  shortly  afterwards. 
The  league  with  the  Five  Nations  was  renewed.  The  whole  extent 
of  coast,  from  Acadia  to  Florida,  was  now  in  possession  of  the 
English. 

Three  years  afterwards,  when  a  treaty  of  peace  was  signed  between 
England  and  Holland,  the  colony  of  Surinam,  in  Guiana,  which  the 
Dutch  had  captured  during  the  war,  was  left  in  their  possession  as  a 
compensation  for  New  Netherlands.  About  the  same  time,  the  pro- 
vince of  Acadia  was  restored  by  treaty  to  France,  greatly  to  the  vexa- 
tion of  the  people  of  New  England. 


(1660.)  RESTORATION  OF  CHARLES  II.;  EXECUTION  OP  HUGH  PETERS.    183 


CHAPTER    XIV* 

THE  RESTORATION. 

IN  the  month  of  May,  1660,  England  was  almost  mad  with  joy  because 
Charles  II.  was  restored  to  the  throne.  In  London,  "groups  of 
royalists,"  we  are  told,  "  gathered  round  buckets  of  wine  in  the  streets, 
and  drank  the  king's  health  on  their  knees.  The  bells  of  every  steeple 
rang,  and  bonfires  were  so  numerous  that  the  city  seemed  surrounded 
by  a  halo;  men  shouted,  women  scattered  flowers,  and  with  loud 
thanks  to  Heaven,  as  if  he  had  been  an  angel  sent  down  from  God, 
Charles  II.  was  received  at  Whitehall,  where  so  lately  the  tragedy  of 
fallen  royality  had  been  enacted." 

Republicanism  was  at  an  end ;  and  the  stern  virtues  of  puritanism 
gone  quite  out  of  fashion.  The  season  of  violent  reaction  was  come ;  and 
again  the  noblest  blood  in  England,  noblest  in  the  truest  sense  of  tho 
word,  flowed  from  the  hands  of  the  executioner.  Amongst  the  earliest 
victims  was  Hugh  Peters,  the  successor  of  Roger  Williams  as  minister 
at  Salem.  "His  arraingment,  trial,  and  execution  were  scenes  of 
wanton  cruelty.  Any  trial  indeed  was  a  mockery,  because  his  death 
was  already  decreed.  "  Go  home  to  New  England,  and  trust  God 
there,"  were  his  last  words  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  the  younger 
Winthrop.  At  the  gallows  he  was  compelled  to  wait  while  his  friend 
Cooke,  who  had  just  been  executed,  was  cut  down.  "  How  do  you 
like  this  ?"  asked  the  savage  hangman,  exultingly.  "  I  thank  God," 
replied  Peters,  "that  I  am  not  terrified  at  it.  You  may  do  your 
worst ;"  and  turning  to  his  friends  he  said,  with  a  smile,  "  Weep  not 
for  me ;  my  heart  is  full  of  comfort."  Several  of  the  regicides  perished 
about  the  same  time,  with  equal  calmness  and  resignation,  their  faith 
in  the  principles  which  brought  them  to  the  scaffold  no  whit  abated 


184  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Three  of  the  regicide  judges,  however,  "Whalley,  Goffe,  and  Dixwell, 
of  whom  we  shall  speak  presently,  fled  to  New  England.  Nor  did  the 
thirst  of  English  vengeance  satisfy  itself  with  the  execution  of  the 
living;  it  wreaked  itself  on  the  dead.  The  corpses  of  Cromwell, 
Bradshaw  and  Ireton  were  disinterred,  dragged  on  hurdles  to  Tyburn, 
and  hanged  on  three  separate  gallows,  after  which  they  were  cut 
down  and  beheaded!  The  whole  horrible  and  disgusting  scene  being 
considered  one  of  great  merriment. 

In  June,  1662,  perished  also  on  the  scaffold  the  noblest  of  the  advo- 
cates of  liberty  in  the  New  "World,  Sir  Henry  Vane,  the  former 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  the  firm  friend  of  Rhode  Island,  and  the 
supporter  of  liberty  under  all  circumstances,  whether  religious  or 
political.  One  of  the  first  and  fastest  friends  of  republicanism  in 
England,  he  had  resisted  the  aggressions  of  Cromwell,  and  Cromwell 
for  this  cause  had  imprisoned  him.  The  trial  of  Vane  has  become  a 
noble  passage  in  history.  Though  a  man  of  a  nervous  temperament, 
he  stood  before  his  judges  with  an  undaunted  courage  which  amazed 
all,  and  there  pleaded  "  for  the  liberties  of  England,  for  the  interest  of 
all  posterity  in  time  to  come."  Counsel  was  not  allowed  him,  and  he 
stood,  "  not  afraid,"  as  he  said,  "  in  that  great  presence,  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  glorious  cause,  nor  to  seal  it  with  his  blood." 

"  Sir  Henry  Vane  is  too  dangerous  a  man  to  let  live,  if  we  can 
honestly  put  him  out  of  the  way,"  wrote  the  king  to  his  counsel ;  and 
though  they  could  not  honestly  put  him  out  of  the  way,  yet  they  sen- 
tenced him  to  the  block,  while  others  were  hanged. 

When,  on  the  day  before  his  execution,  his  friends  were  admitted 
to  visit  him,  they  found  him  so  serene  and  cheerful,  that  he,  not  they, 
administered  consolation,  "reasoning  calmly  on  death  and  immor- 
tality." Reviewing  his  political  career  from  the  day  when  he  had 
defended  in  New  England  the  unitarianism  of  Anne  Hutchinson,  to 
his  last  struggle  for  English  liberty,  he  said,  "  I  feel  not  the  least 
recoil  in  my  heart  for  what  I  have  done."  When  his  children 
gathered  round  him  weeping,  he  said,  kissing  and  embracing  them, 
"  The  Lord  will  be  a  better  father  to  you  than  I  have  been.  Be  not 
troubled,  for  I  am  going  home  to  my  father ;"  and  his  last  words  to 
them  were,  "  Suffer  anything  rather  than  sin  against  God."  To  his 
friends  he  said,  "  I  leave  my  life  as  a  seal  to  the  justness  of  that 


(1662.)  DEATH  OF  SIR  H.  VANE — FLIGHT  OF  WHALLEY  AND  GOFFE.     185 

quarrel.  Ten  thousand  deaths  rather  than  defile  the  chastity  of  my 
conscience ;  nor  would  I  for  a  thousand  worlds  resign  the  peace  and 
satisfaction  which  I  have  in  my  heart !" 

As  he  went  to  execution,  prayers  and  tears  accompanied  him.  So 
great  was  the  public  sympathy /that  people  cried,  "  God  he  with  you !" 
On  the  scaffold  it  was  his  wish  to  address  the  vast  multitude  assembled 
to  witness  his  death,  but  trumpets  overpowered  his  voice,  and  finding 
it  vain  to  make  the  attempt,  he  turned  to  his  friends,  reminding 
them  that  he  had  foretold  the  dark  clouds  which  were  coming  thicker 
and  thicker  for  a  season,  but  that  a  better  day  would  dawn  in  the 
clouds ;  and  baring  his  neck  for  the  axe,  he  exclaimed :  "  Blessed  be 
God,  I  have  kept  a  conscience  void  of  offence ;  to  this  day  I  have  not 
deserted  the  righteous  cause  for  which  I  suffer."  Thus  perished  Sir 
Henry  Vane ;  his  death  establishing  the  great  principle  of  popular 
liberty,  even  more  than  his  life  had  done.  The  blood  of  the  martyr 
never  flows  in  vain. 

The  ship  that  conveyed  to  Boston,  in  July,  the  first  news  of  the 
Restoration,  brought  with  it  Whalley  and  Goffe,  two  of  the  regicide 
judges  of  Charles  II.,  who  now  naturally  fled  to  the  only  portion  of 
the  English  territories  where  republicanism  might  still  be  tolerated. 
Th:y  were  well  received  by  Endicot,  the  governor,  and  the  tidings 
which  tliey  brought  being  hardly  credited,  excited  but  little  attention. 
Nor  was  ir  till  the  month  of  November  that  official  information  of 
this  great  event  arrived ;  of  the  act  of  indemnity  for  all  except  such 
as  were  concerned  in  the  death  of  Charles  I.;  of  the  execution  of 
Peters,  and  the  imprisonment  of  Vane,  together  with  the  information 
that  many  complaints  of  persecution  and  misdemeanours  against  the 
colony  were  received  by  parliament  and  the  crown. 

More  unwelcome  tidings  could  hardly  have  reached  Massachusetts  j 
and  yet,  a  general  court  being  summoned,  addresses  were  prepared  to  the 
restored  monarch  very  little  creditable  to  the  independence  and  manli- 
ness of  the  colony.  They  spoke  of  the  execution  of  Charles  very  vaguely, 
and  apologetically  represented  themselves  as  "  his  present  majesty's 
poor  Mephibosheths,  by  reason  of  lameness  in  respect  of  distance,  not 
until  now  appearing  in  his  presence,  kneeling  with  the  rest  of  his 
subjects  before  his  majesty  as  their  restored  king."  They  prayed  for 
a  continuance,  however,  of  civil  and  religious  liberties  j  and  as 


186  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

regarded  the  complaints  which  had  been  brought  against  them,  they 
besought  the  king  that  he  would  not  hear  men's  words,  for  that  his 
servants  were  true  men,  fearing  God  and  the  king."  At  the  same 
time  that  this  cringing  address,  and  another  in  the  same  spirit  to 
parliament,  were  sent,  letters  were  written  to  the  now  aged  Lord  Say 
and  Seal,  and  other  puritan  noblemen  who  might  be  supposed  to  have 
interest  with  the  new  government,  to  bespeak  their  favour. 

Much  more  creditable  than  these  addresses  was  the  conduct  of  New- 
England  with  regard  to  the  fugitive  regicides.  Before  a  royal  order 
for  their  arrest  reached  Boston,  by  the  hands  of  a  party  of  royalists, 
which  Massachusetts  was  required  to  execute,  the  offenders  had 
escaped  to  New  Haven.  The  magistrates  assumed  an  appearance  of 
assiduity,  and  published  a  proclamation  against  them,  but  no  intention 
existed  of  giving  them  up.  They  were  safe,  and  shortly  afterwards 
were  joined  by  Dixwell,  another  of  the  regicide  judges ;  and,  spite  of 
all  the  efforts  that  were  made  to  arrest  them,  all  three  finished  their 
days  in  New  England.  Dixwell  lived  openly,  under  a  feigned  name, 
at  New  Haven ;  and  the  other  two  in  concealment,  sometimes  in 
Massachusetts,  at  other  times  in  Connecticut. 

It  was  not  long  before  New  England  perceived  that  they  had  no 
reason  to  congratulate  themselves  on  the  altered  government  in  the 
mother  country.  The  commercial  restrictions  from  which  they  had 
been  exempt  during  the  Commonwealth  were  now  renewed ;  and  with 
some  return  to  their  former  independence,  the  general  court  and 
elders  drew  up  a  clear  declaration  of  what  they  considered  to  be  their 
rights.  These  they  asserted  to  be,  "to  choose  their  own  governor, 
deputy-governor,  and  representatives ;  to  admit  freemen  on  terms  to 
be  prescribed  at  their  own  pleasure ;  to  set  up  all  sorts  of  officers, 
superior  and  inferior,  with  such  powers  and  duties  as  they  might 
appoint ;  to  exercise,  by  their  annually-elected  magistrates  and 
deputies,  all  authority  legislative,  executive  and  judicial ;  to  defend 
themselves  by  force  of  arms  against  any  aggression ;  and  to  reject 
any  and  every  imposition  which  they  might  judge  prejudicial  to  the 
colony,  and  contrary  to  any  just  act  of  colonial  legislation." 

This  declaration,  which  left  but  small  prerogative  to  the  crown,  and 
which  asserted  the  navigation  act  to  be  an  infringement  of  their 
charter,  was  drawn  up  before  Charles  II.  was  publicly  proclaimed  in 


(1662.)       WINTHROP   OBTAINS   A   CHARTER    FOR   CONNECTICUT.  187 

New  England,  nearly  twelve  months  after  the  news  had  first  reached 
them,  and  then  all  demonstrations  of  extravagant  joy  were  prohibited ; 
the  king's  health  was  not  even  allowed  to  be  drunk.  The  colonies  of 
Plymouth,  Hartford,  New  Haven  and  Rhode  Island,  had,  on  the 
contrary,  immediately  proclaimed  the  king. 

Connecticut,  in  the  person  of  the  younger  Winthrop,  then  in 
London,  applied  for  and  obtained  a  favourable  charter ;  the  colonists 
having  beforehand  carefully  drawn  up  the  document,  which  they 
desired  the  king  to  ratify,  claiming  the  land  by  purchase  from  the 
natives — by  conquest  from  the  Pequods,  who  had  made  on  them  a 
war  of  extermination — and  by  the  sweat  of.  their  own  brows,  which 
had  changed  the  wilderness  into  a  garden.  Their  petition  for  this 
charter  was  not  only  seconded  by  the  aged  Lord  Say  and  Seal,  who 
obtained  for  it  also  the  co-operation  of  the  Earl  of  Manchester,  but 
Winthrop,  himself  a  man  of  the  noblest  endowments,  at  once  a  scholar, 
a  gentleman  and  a  Christian,  won  for  it  general  goodwill  by  his 
merits  alone.  The  son-in-law  of  Hugh  Peters,  whose  execution  had 
so  lately  taken  place,  "  God  gave  him,  nevertheless,  favour,"  as  his 
own  father  Governor  Winthrop,  truly  observed,  "  in  the  eyes  of  all 
with  whom  he  had  to  do;"  and  in  his  interviews  with  Charles, 
whether  it  was  by  the  charm  of  his  conversation,  his  descriptions  of 
Indian  warfare,  and  the  adventurous  life  in  the  wilderness ;  or 
whether,  really,  as  was  said,  Winthrop  presented  a  ring  to  the  mo- 
narch, which  had  been  given,  under  peculiar  circumstances,  by  Charles 
I.  to  Winthrop's  grandfather,  which  constituted  a  claim  on  the  house 
of  Stuart,  is  not  known;  this,  however.,  is  a  fact,  the  charter  was 
obtained.  Clarendon  was  full  of  goodwill,  and  certain  courtiers, 
having  themselves,  it  is  believed,  interested  views,  recommended  no 
limitations.  This  charter  embraced  as  one  colony  New  Haven  and 
Hartford,  the. limits  of  the  latter  being  extended  from  the  Narra- 
gansett  river  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  On  the  colonists  it  conferred 
unqualified  power  to  govern  themselves ;  to  elect  their  own  officers ; 
to  enact  their  own  laws ;  to  administer  justice ;  to  exercise  all  power 
deliberative  and  executive,  without  appeal  to  England,  or  without 
reference  to  England  under  any  circumstances.  Connecticut  was 
independent  in  everything  but  name. 

"After  his  successful  negociation  and  efficient  concert  in  founding 


188  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  Royal  Society,"  says  Bancroft,  "  Winthrop  returned  to  America, 
bringing  with  him  a  name  which  England  honoured,  and  which  his 
country  should  never  forget,  and  resumed  his  tranquil  life  in  rural 
retirement."  Some  little  trouble  he  at  first  met  with  from  the  two 
colonies  being  amalgamated,  without  the  consent  of  New  Haven  to 
such  a  measure  being  first  obtained.  New  Haven,  which  seemed  thus 
compelled  to  sink  its  own  existence  in  that  of  the  stronger  sister- 
colony,  very  naturally  made  some  opposition,  but  the  wisdom  and  firm 
gentleness  of  Winthrop  effected  a  reconciliation ;  the  colonies  were 
united  as  by  a  happy  marriage,  and  thenceforth  but  one  interest 
swayed  the  two.  Connecticut  showed  her  respect  and  affection  for 
Winthrop,  by  annually  electing  him  for  fourteen  consecutive  years  as 
her  governor. 

The  result  of  this  ample  charter,  this  liberty  of  self-government,  was 
a  social  condition  so  nearly  approaching  to  the  Utopia  of  philosophers, 
and  the  golden  age  of  the  poets,  that  we  must  be  allowed  to  dwell 
somewhat  at  length  upon  the  beautiful  and  refreshing  picture.  It 
stands  almost  alone  in  the  history  of  man.  The  institutions  of  Con- 
necticut being  almost  perfected  by  this  charter,  nearly  a  century 
elapsed  before  any  event  took  place  which  demands  the  historian's 
notice.  But  its  progress  during  this  time  was  of  healthy  increase,  its 
population  doubled  every  twenty  years,  and  its  history  was  a  picture 
of  colonial  happiness  and  prosperity.  "To  describe  its  condition," 
says  Bancroft,  "  is  but  to  enumerate  the  blessings  of  self-government 
by  a  community  of  farmers  who  have  leisure  to  reflect,  who  cherish 
education,  and  who  have  neither  a  nobility  nor  a  populace.  Could 
Charles  II.  have  looked  back  upon  earth,  and  seen  what  security  his 
gift  of  a  charter  had  conferred,  he  might  have  gloried  in  an  act  which 
redeemed  his  life  from  the  charge  of  having  been  unproductive  of 
public  happiness.  The  contentment  of  Connecticut  was  full  to  the 
brim." 

Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  were  examples  of  what  a  truly 
Christian  commonwealth  may  become ;  greater  than  the  Pilgrim 
states,  because  they  understood  and  practised  the  milder  Christian 
virtues  of  forbearance  and  love.  •  Persecution  had  no  home  in  these 
states.  Roger  Williams  was  ever  a  welcome  guest  at  Hartford,  and 
"  that  heavenly  man,"  John  Haynes,  at  Providence.  "  I  think,  Mr. 


(1C62.)  DESCRIPTION   OF   LIFE   IN   CONNECTICUT.  189 

Williams,"  said  this  modern  St.  John,  addressing  his  Christian  brother, 
"  that  the  most  wise  God  hath  provided  and  cut  out  this  part  of  the 
world  as  a  refuge  and  receptacle  for  all  sorts  of  consciences."  Happy 
Connecticut!  "No  enemy,"  we  are  told,  "was  within  her  borders, 
tranquillity  was  within  her  gates,  and  the  fear  of  God  within  her 
heart."  Nor  was  this  a  mere  poetical  image;  for  many  years  the 
public  security  was  so  great,  that  locks  and  bolts  were  unknown;  the 
best  house  had  no  firmer  fastening  to  its  doors  than  a  simple  latch. 

At  the  risk  of  dwelling,  perhaps,  a  little  too  long  on  this  portion  of 
our  history,  we  must  give  a  picture  of  life  which  is  as  quaint  and 
beautiful  as  any  Arcadian  poem  that  ever  was  written. 

"  There  were  neither  rich  nor  poor  in  the  land,  but  all  had  enough. 
There  was  venison  on  the  hills,  abundant  fish  in  the  rivers,  and  sugar 
was  gathered  from  the  maple  of  the  forest.  The  soil  was  originally 
justly  divided,  or  held  faithfully  in  trust  for  the  public,  and  for  new- 
comers. Happiness  was  enjoyed  unconsciously;  like  sound  health,  it 
was  the  condition  of  a  pure  and  simple  life.  There  was  for  a  long 
time  hardly  a  lawyer  in  the  land.  The  husbandman  who  held  his 
own  plough,  and  fed  his  own  cattle,  was  the  great  man  of  the  age ; 
nor  was  any  one  superior  to  the  matron,  who,  with  her  busy  daughters, 
kept  the  hum  of  the  wheel  incessantly  alive,  spinning  and  weaving 
every  article  of  dress.  Fashion  was  confined  within  narrow  limits  ; 
and  pride,  which  aimed  at  no  grander  equipage  than  a  pillion,  exulted 
only  in  the  common  splendour  of  the  blue  and  white  linen  gown  with 
sleeves  reaching  to  the  elbow,  and  the  snow-white  flaxen  apron,  which, 
primly  starched  and  ironed,  was  worn  on  public  days  by  every  woman 
of  the  laud.  The  time  of  sowing  and  the  time  of  reaping  marked  the 
progress  of  the  year ;  and  the  plain  dress  of  the  working  day  and  the 
more  trim  attire  of  the  Sabbath,  the  progress  of  the  week. 

"  Every  family  was  taught  to  look  up  to  God,  as  the  fountain  of  all 
good.  Yet  life  was  not  sombre ;  the  spirit  of  frolic  mingled  with 
innocence ;  religion  itself  assumed  a  garb  of  gaiety,  and  the  annual 
thanksgiving  was  as  joyous  as  it  was  sincere.  Frugality  was  the  rule 
of  life,  both  private  and  public.  Half  a  century  after  the  concession 
of  the  charter,  the  annual  expenses  of  government  did  not  exceed 
£800. 

"  Education  was  always  regarded  as  an  object  of  deepest  concern, 


190  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  common  schools  existed  from  the  first.  A  small  college  was  early 
established,  and  Yale  owes  its  birth  to  ten  worthy  fathers,  who  in  1700 
assembled  at  Branford,  and  each  one  laying  a  few  volumes  on  a  table, 
said,  '  I  give  these  books  for  the  founding  of  a  college  in  this  colony.' 

"Political  education  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the  constitution. 
Every  inhabitant  was  a  citizen,  and  every  citizen,  irrespective  of 
wealth,  condition,  or  any  other  circumstance,  was  possessed  of  the 
franchise.  When,  therefore,  the  progress  of  society  and  of  events 
furnished  a  wider  field  of  action  than  mere  local  politics  afforded,  the 
public  mind  was  found  equal  to  its  circumstances ;  emerging  then 
from  the  quiet  of  its  origin  into  scenes  where  a  new  political  world 
was  to  be  created,  the  sagacity  which  had  regulated  the  affairs  of  the 
village,  gained  admiration  in  the  field  and  the  council."* 

Rhode  Island,  as  well  as  Connecticut,  received  a  charter  of  the  most 
liberal  character  from  Charles.  Ever  the  advocate  of  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  the  mind,  they  had  pleaded,  in  1658,  with  the  English 
Commonwealth,  "  that  they  might  not  be  compelled  to  exercise  any 
civil  power  over  men's  consciences,  which,"  urged  they,  "we  judge  no 
less  than  a  point  of  absolute  cruelty;"  and  again,  addressing  the 
restored  monarch,  they  besought  that  they  might  be  enabled  "  to  hold 
forth  a  lively  experiment  that  a  most  flourishing  civil  state  may  stand, 
and  best  be  maintained,  with  a  full  liberty  of  religious  concernments.*' 
And  Charles  listened  to  their  request;  and  Clarendon  himself  seconded 
it,  and  that  noble  charter,  more  liberal  even  than  that  of  Connecticut, 
was  granted,  which  Roger  Williams  says,  "startled  his  majesty's  high 
officers  of  state,  who,  against  their  will,  signed  it,  fearing  the  lion's 
roaring."  And  Rhode  Island,  as  Roger  Williams  had  prayed  might 
be  the  case,  became  a  secure  home  for  liberty  of  conscience.  "  No 
person  within  the  said  colony,"  it  was  enacted,  "at  any  time  hereafter 
shall  be  anywise  molested,  punished,  disquieted,  or  called  in  question 
for  any  differences  in  opinion  in  matters  of  religion ;  but  that  all  and 
every  person  may  at  all  times  hereafter  freely  and  fully  have  and 
enjoy  his  and  their  own  judgments  and  consciences,  in  matters  of 
religious  concernments."  There  was  no  restriction  here  as  regarded 
Jesuits  or  Pagans  j  the  spirit  of  this  charter  was  broader  even  than 

*  Bancroft. 


(1663.)      QUAKERISM   FIRST   ESTABLISHED    IN   RHODE    ISLAND.  191 

that  of  Maryland,  \vhich,  disregarding  distinction  of  sect  and  party, 
still  required  belief  in  Christ.  It  is  a  grand  lesson  to  the  narrow- 
souled  religionist,  whether  he  be  Episcopalian  or  Calvinist,  who  deals 
damnation  freely  to  all  who  differ  from  him,  that  in  two  states,  the 
one  founded  by  a  Catholic,  the  other  by  the  holders  of  every  kind  of 
heresy,  the  noblest  principles  of  Christianity,  forbearance  and  love, 
were  atone  acknowledged  as  the  true  foundations  of  religion. 

The  liberty  thus  granted,  spite  of  the  assertion  that  quakerism  fled 
from  the  Rhode  Island  colony  because  it  was  tolerated  there,  caused 
Quakerism  to  have  there  its  first  home  in  the  New  World.  Governor 
Coddington  joined  the  society  and  died  a  member  of  it.  The  yearly 
meeting  of  the  Quakers  was  held  at  his  house  till  his  death ;  and  the 
first  meeting-house  of  that  body  was  built  at  Newport,  on  Rhode 
Island.  George  Fox  himself,  in  1672,  visited  his  "Friends"  there, 
and  committed  to  them  "  the  firm  support  of  the  good  of  the  people." 
The  creative  power  of  good  in  the  colony  he  declared  to  be  the 
instruction  of  all  the  people  in  their  rights ;  "you  are  the  un worthiest 
men  upon  earth,"  added  he,  "  if  you  do  lose  the  liberty  wherewith 
Christ  hath  made  you  free  in  life  and  glory," — for  he  and  his  early 
Friends  regarded  Christianity,  taken  in  its  own  broad  and  catholic 
spirit,  as  the  great  emancipator  of  the  human  race. 

The  joy  of  the  colonists,  on  receiving  their  noble  charter,  was 
extreme.  George  Baxter — could  it  be  the  same  who  was  so  active 
among  the  revolutionists  of  New  Amsterdam  ? — arrived  with  it  on 
the  24th  of  November,  1663,  and  the  whole  body  of  the  people 
gathered  together  for  its  solemn  reception.  "  The  letters  of  the  agent 
were  opened,  and  read,  with  good  delivery  and  attention  ;  then  the 
charter  was  taken  forth,  from  the  precious  box  that  held  it,  and  was 
read  by  Baxter,  in  the  audience  and  view  of  all  the  people ;  and  the 
letters,  with  his  Majesty's  royal  stamp  and  broad  seal,  with  much 
becoming  gravity  were  held  up  on  high,  and  presented  to  the  perfect 
view  of  the  people." 

When  the  gifted  sons  and  daughters  of  America  begin  to  express 
their  patriotism  and  national  pride  by  means  of  the  fine  arts, 
this  noble  incident  will  inspire  a  patriot  artist.  The  scene  itself, 
on  the  shores  of  a  beautiful  island ;  the  great  sea  beyond ;  and  the 
congregated  people,  "a  very  great  meeting  and  assembly,"  men, 


192  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

women,  and  children  beholding,  with  deep  emotion,  the  upheld  charter, 
with  the  broad  seals,  that  insured  to  them  those  sacred  liberties  which 
were  dear  to  them  as  life.  A  more  beautiful  subject  could  scarcely 
be  found ;  and  yet  American  history  abounds  with  many  such.  One 
day  they  must  of  necessity  become  eloquent  through  the  arts. 

As  regards  the  other  states,  the  effect  of  the  Restoration  was  not 
so  favourable.  In  Maryland,  as  we  already  know,  the  claim  of  Lord 
Baltimore  being  confirmed,  a  temporary  tranquillity  was  established 
throughout  the  state.  Virginia  was  less  fortunate,  though  she  had 
been  the  most  loyal  of  all  the  states ;  and  though  her  homes  had 
opened  themselves  to  the  exiled  royalists,  many  of  whom  were  now 
established  on  her  soil.  In  April,  1661,  Sir  William  Berkeley,  the 
governor,  ^  embarked  for  England  as  agent  for  Virginia  to  obtain 
relief  from  the  Navigation  Act,  which  office  he  very  unworthily  per- 
formed. Instead  of  favour,  instead  of  the  repeal  of  onerous  laws 
imposed  by  the  Commonwealth,  commercial  restrictions  were  multi- 
plied, and  the  reward  of  loyalty  was  dismemberment  among  greedy 
courtiers.  But  to  this  we  shall  return  in  the  order  of  date. 

As  regards  New  Hampshire  and  Maine,  we  have  already  stated 
that  Charles  conferred  upon  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  the 
country  between  the  Pemaquid  and  the  St.  Croix ;  yet  the  pro- 
prietary claims  of  these  provinces  were  revived  with  the  intention  of 
obtaining  them  for  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  and  the  fine  extent  of 
country  from  Connecticut  River  to  Delaware  Bay,  then  partly  in 
possession  of  the  Dutch,  and  partly  included  in  Winthrop's  patent, 
was  also  given  to  the  Duke  of  York.  We  now  return  to  Massa- 
chusetts. 


(1663.)  MASSACHUSETTS   AND   THE    HOME    GOVERNMENT.  193 


CHAPTER  XV. 

MASSACHUSETTS  UNDER  CHABLES  II. 

HAVING  drawn  up  what  the  people  of  Massachusetts  considered  a 
declaration  of  their  chartered  liberties,  and  thus  indemnified  them- 
selves, as  it  were,  by  the  assertion  of  democratic  principles,  John 
Norton,  "  a  fine  scholar  and  rigid  Puritan,"  and  the  excellent  Simon 
Bradstreet;  were  sent  over  to  convince  the  king  of  the  loyalty  of 
Massachusetts,  and  to  obtain  from  him  a  confirmation  of  her  charter ; 
letters  being  at  the  same  time  sent  to  such  English  statesmen  as 
might  be  supposed  to  be  favourable,  bespeaking  their  co  operation. 

Charles,  though  fully  aware  of  the  contumacious  spirit  of  Massa- 
chusetts, received  her  envoys  courteously,  and  confirmed  the  charter, 
burdening  it,  however,  with  restrictions  which  had  no  place  in  those 
granted  to- Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  He  retained  for  himself  "  a 
right  to  interfere  in  the  domestic  policy  of  the  colony ;  he  demanded  a 
repeal  of  all  laws  derogatory  to  his  authority ;  the  administration  of  the 
oath  of  allegiance  was  required ;  justice  was  to  be  administered  in  his 
name  ;  complete  toleration  given  to  the  Church  of  England ;  and  the 
elective  franchise  conceded  to  every  inhabitant  possessing  a  competent 
estate." 

A  struggle  now  commenced  between  Massachusetts  and  the  govern- 
ment at  home.  Instead  of  obeying  the  royal  requisitions,  they 
resolved  only  to  adopt  measures  "  conducive  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  felicity  of  his  people,"  and  these  of  course  were  the  maintenance 
of  their  religious  and  democratic  independence.  The  news  of  this 
opposition  to  authority  did  not  tend  to  promote  a  better  feeling 
towards  them.  It  was  even  reported  that  Whalley  and  Goffe  were 
at  the  head  of  an  army  of  the  four  united  provinces  of  New  England, 

VOL.  I.  9 


194  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES, 

which  were  about  to  throw  off  their  allegiance  to  the  mother-country. 
Clarendon  wrote,  assuring  them  of  "  his  true  love  and  friendship,  and 
that  they  should  receive  no  prejudice  in  privileges,  charter,  govern 
ment  or  church  discipline ;"  and  yet,  before  long,  ships  of  war 
anchored  in  Boston  harbour,  bringing  commissioners  appointed  "  to 
regulate  the  affairs  of  the  country  according  to  royal  authority  and 
their  own  discretion." 

Massachusetts  had  prepared  for  their  coming.  Her  charter  was 
entrusted  to  the  safe  keeping  of  four  of  her  citizens ;  and  a  day  of 
solemn  fasting  and  prayer  was  appointed,  as  a  means  of  propitiating 
Heaven  in  this  fearful  emergency. 

The  commissioners  were  Nichols,  Carr  and  Cartwright,  together 
with  Samuel  Maverick,  a  Massachusetts  man,  son  of  the  first  minister 
of  Dorchester,  and  who  appearing  now  in  this  character,  was  regarded 
as  a  traitor.  They  came  out  in  the  small  fleet  which  we  have 
already  mentioned  as  destined  to  the  attack  of  the  Dutch  possessions 
in  New  Netherlands.  At  first,  Massachusetts  objected  to  take  part 
in  this  aggression  on  the  Dutch,  but  on  second  thoughts,  considering 
the  position  in  which  they  stood  with  regard  to  the  king,  a  levy  of 
200  men  was  raised,  which,  as  it  happened,  was  not  wanted,  New 
Netherlands  yielding  without  force  of  arms. 

Taking  but  little  notice  of  their  cold  reception  at  Boston,  the  com- 
missioners proceeded  with  the  fleet,  touching  at  Connecticut,  where, 
the  province  having  obtained  in  its  charter  all  it  desired,  they  were 
well  received ;  and  Winthrop,  the  governor,  proceeded  with  them  to 
New  Amsterdam.  New  Netherlands  having  submitted,  and  Nichols 
being  left  there  as  governor,  the  remaining  commisioners  returned  to 
Boston,  after  settling  the  boundaries  of  Connecticut  and  New  York. 

In  the  meantime  the  people  of  Massachusetts  had  resolved  upon 
their  line  of  conduct,  which  was  manly  and  straightforward.  A 
remonstrance  was  drawn  up  to  the  king,  and  even  this  some  of  the  * 
sturdy  democrats  thought  more  than  necessary,  their  compact  being, 
it  was  argued,  merely  one-fifth  of  all  gold  and  silver  ore ;  "  which 
was  an  obligation,  any  notice  of  the  king  beyond  which  was  only  by 
way  of  civility."  This  remonstrance  stated  to  the  king  that  the  first 
planters  of  the  colony  obtained  a  patent  which  empowered  them  to 
govern  themselves  by  men  chosen  from  themselves,  and  according  to 


(1663.)   REMONSTRANCES   OF   THE   PEOPLE    OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  195 

such  laws  as  they  should  enact.  "  A  royal  donation,"  said  they, 
"  under  the  great  seal,  is  the  greatest  security  that  may  be  had  in 
human  affairs ;"  having,  therefore,  now  for  more  than  thirty  years 
enjoyed  the  privilege  of  government  within  themselves,  as  their 
undoubted  right  in  the  sight  of  God  and  man,  they  required  that  the 
same  should  be  left  to  them. 

As  regarded  the  appointment  of  a  commission,  one  member  of 
which  was  a  professed  enemy,  with  power  to  receive  and  decide 
complaints  according  to  their  will  and  pleasure,  the  remonstrants 
state,  "  that  if  these  things  are  to  go  on,  his  majesty's  subjects  will 
either  be  forced  to  seek  new  dwellings,  or  will  sink  under  intolerable 
burdens,  which  would  be  a  loss  to  the  king  in  the  customs  of  exported 
and  imported  goods."  And  fearing,  reasonably  enough,  that  Charles's 
rapacious  courtiers  might  be  casting  longing  looks  towards  the  now 
prosperous  colony,  they  very  sagaciously  observe  :  "If  the  aim  should 
be  to  gratify  some  particular  gentlemen  by  livings  and  revenues  here, 
that  will  also  fail,  because  of  the  poverty  of  the  people.  If  all  the 
charges  of  the  whole  government  by  the  year  were  put  together,  and 
then  doubled  or  trebled,  it  would  not  be  counted  by  one  of  these 
gentlemen  a  considerable  accommodation. 

"  God  knows,"  pursue  they,  "  our  greatest  ambition  is  to  have  a 
quiet  life  in  a  corner  of  the  world.  "We  came  not  into  this  wilder- 
ness to  seek  great  things  to  ourselves ;  and  if  any  come  after  us  to 
seek  them  here,  they  will  be  disappointed.  We  keep  ourselves 
within  our  line ;  a  just  dependence  upon  and  subjection  to  your 
majesty,  according  to  our  charter,  it  is  far  from  our  hearts  to  dis- 
acknowledge.  We  would  gladly  do  anything  within  our  power  to 
purchase  the  continuance  of  your  favourable  aspect.  But  it  is  a  great 
unhappiness  to  have  no  testimony  of  our  loyalty  offered  but  this,  to 
yield  up  our  liberties,  which  are  far  dearer  to  us  than  our  lives,  and 
for  which  we  have  willingly  ventured  our  lives,  and  passed  through 
many  deaths  to  obtain." 

The  conclusion  is  characteristic :  "  It  was  Job's  excellency,  when 
ne  sat  as  king  among  his  people,  that  he  was  a  father  to  the  poor. 
A  poor  people,  destitute  of  outward  favour,  wealth  and  power,  now 
cry  unto  their  lord  the  king.  May  your  majesty  regard  their  cause 


196  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  maintain  their  right ;  it  will  stand  among  the  marks  of  lasting 
honour  to  after  generations." 

This  remonstrance  was  not  well  received  in  England.  The  com- 
mission was  justified  and  submission  recommended.  But  the 
sturdy  magistrates  would  not  yield ;  and  the  commissioners,  perfect 
jacks-in-office,  were  pompous  and  over-bearing.  Each  day  increased 
the  mutual  dislike  of  the  two  parties.  In  the  interval,  however, 
between  the  remonstrance  being  sent  and  the  answer  returned, 
the  commissioners  visited  Plymouth  and  Rhode  Island.  In  Rhode 
Island  all  went  smoothly.  Plymouth,  the  weakest  of  all  the 
colonies,  was  offered  the  bribe  of  an  independent  charter,  for 
which  she  had  long  been  urgent,  if  she  would  set  an  example  of 
compliance,  and  allow  the  king  to  nominate  the  governor.  But 
Plymouth  was  nobly  true  to  the  great  principle  of  democratic 
liberty ;  and,  to  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  to  give  emphasis  to  their 
decision,  the  representatives  declared,  in  the  face  of  the  commis- 
sioners, that,  "  by  authority  of  the  charter,  and  in  observance  of  their 
duty  to  God,  to  the  king,  and  their  constituents,  they  would  not  suffer 
any  to  abet  his  majesty's  honoured  commissioners  in  their  pro- 
ceedings." 

"  Since  you  will  misconstrue  our  endeavours,"  said  the  angry 
commissioners,  "  we  will  lose  no  more  of  our  labours  upon  you ! " 
And  leaving  Plymouth,  they  proceeded  to  the  north,  to  establish  the 
boundaries  and  re-assert  proprietary  claims  in  New  Hampshire  and 
Maine  ;  and  here  again  they  came  to  issue  with  Massachusetts,  which 
at  once  forbade  the  towns  on  the  Piscataqua,  which  had  put  themselves 
under  her  jurisdiction,  to  obey  the  commissioners  on  their  peril. 

In  Maine  a  strong  party  existed  favourable  to  episcopacy  and 
royalty,  and  for  some  little  time  the  commissioners  had  the  ascendancy 
there  ;  the  officers  appointed  by  Massachusetts,  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  which  Maine  was  at  this  time  governed,  were  deposed,  and  others, 
selected  by  the  commissioners,  appointed  in  their  stead.  Two  violent 
parties  were  thus  created  in  the  province,  which  caused  after  troubles. 
Leaving  Maine,  the  commissioners  returned  to  Boston,  where  they 
were  formally  accused  by  the  inflexible  magistrates  of  having  fomented 
disturbances  in  Maine,  and  their  prolonged  stay  in  this  contumacious 


(1665.)   FKACAS  BETWEEN  THE  COMMISSIONERS  AND  CONSTABLES.        19? 

city  became  anything  but  agreeable.  They  were  accustomed  to  hold 
every  Saturday  evening  a  social  party  at  a  tavern,  and  this  species  of 
entertainment,  on  that  evening  of  the  week  which  the  strict  Puritans 
regarded  as  the  commencement  of  the  Sabbath,  being  contrary  to 
their  law,  it  was  resolved  to  put  an  end  to.  Accordingly  a  constable 
was  sent  to  break  up  the  first  which  was  now  held.  The  constable, 
however,  was  soundly  beaten  and  driven  off  by  Sir  Robert  Carr  and 
his  servant.  Another  and  much  more  determined  constable,  named 
Mason,  now  made  his  appearance,  but  the  party  had  in  the  meantime 
adjourned  to  a  house  over  the  way,  whither  he  followed  them, 
and,  entering  the  room  where  they  sate,  reproached  them  for  not 
setting  a  better  example,  and  for  beating  a  constable,  saying,  it  was 
well  for  them  that  they  had  changed  their  quarters,  otherwise  he 
would  have  arrested  every  one  of  them.  "What!"  cried  Carr, 
"arrest  the  king's  commissioners!"  "Yes,"  replied  Mason,  "the 
king  himself  had  he  been  there."  "Treason!  treason!"  shouted 
Maverick  ;  "  knave,  thou  shalt  presently  hang  for  this." 

The  next  day  the  commissioners  accused  the  second  constable  of 
treason,  and  the  governor  informed  Sir  Kobert  Carr  that  the  first 
constable  had  lodged  a  complaint  against  him  for  assault  and  battery. 
The  affair  was  brought  before  the  court,  but  very  little  came  of 
the  accusations  either  way.  In  the  meantime,  the  commisioners 
having  sent  to  England  a  report  of  their  general  proceedings 
received  their  recall,  together  with  his  Majesty's  approval  of 
their  conduct,  and  of  the  conduct  of  all  the  colonies,  with  the 
exception  of  Massachusetts,  which  was  ordered  to  send  over  Belling- 
ham,  the  governor,  Hawthorne,  a  magistrate  of  great  influence,  and 
three  others,  to  answer  for  the  charges  which  were  brought  against 
the  colony. 

A  general  court  was  convened  to  deliberate  on  the  letter  of  the 
king  ;  the  next  day  was  spent  in  prayer  and  religious  exercises  ;  and 
on  the  third  they  again  met  for  deliberation,  the  end  of  which 
was  a  refusal  to  comply.  «  We  have  already,"  replied  the  court, 
with  dignity,  "  furnished  our  views  in  writing,  so  that  the  ablest 
persons  amongst  us  could  not  declare  our  case  more  fully."  There- 
fore they  declined  to  send  over  deputies. 

Willing,  however,  to  evince  their  loyalty,  they  sent  provisions  to 


198  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  English  fleet  in  the  West  Indies,  and  a  cargo  of  masts  as  a 
present  to  the  English  navy  ;  "  a  blessing,"  says  Pepys,  in  his  diary, 
"mighty  unexpected,  and  but  for  which  we  must  have  failed  the 
next  year." 

Massachusetts  thus  in  part  made  her  peace  with  the  mother- 
country  ;  besides  which,  England  was  not  just  then  in  a  state  to 
compel  obedience;  the  war  with  Holland  was  pressing  heavily  on 
the  country  ;  and  the  great  fire  and  the  plague  which  had  just  ravaged 
and  depopulated  London  brought  subjects  of  serious  thought  much 
nearer  home,  which  threw  Massachusetts  for  several  years  completely 
into  the  background.  In  the  meantime  she  prospered. 

In  1670,  Sir  Joshua  Child,  in  his  discourse  on  trade,  reported  of 
Massachusetts,  that  it  is  "  the  most  prejudicial  plantation  of  Great 
Britain ;  the  frugality,  industry  and  temperance  of  its  people,  and 
the  happiness  of  their  laws  and  institutions,  promise  them  long  life 
and  a  wonderful  increase  of  people,  riches,  and  power."  And  the 
promise  was  fulfilled.  The  navigation  act,  which  pressed  so  heavily  on 
Virginia,  and  which  was  intended  to  be  enforced  with  equal  severity  in 
Massachusetts,  was  disregarded  ;  not  a  single  custom-house  was  estab- 
lished ;  on  the  contrary,  Massachusetts  enjoyed  all  the  advantages 
of  free-trade,  "  acting  as  carrier  to  most  of  the  colonies,  sending 
her  ships  to  various  parts  of  the  world,  while  ships  from  Spain, 
Italy,  France  and  Holland,  might  all  be  seen  in  Boston  harbour. 
Villages  extended ;  prosperity  was  universal ;  beggary  was  unknown ; 
theft  was  rare," 

Such  was  the  condition  of  Massachusetts  in  1670.  One  internal 
trouble,  however,  she  still  had,  and  that  was,  the  growth  of  schismatics 
within  her  borders.  The  Baptists,  spite  of  all  opposition,  were  not 
only  numerous,  but  had  built  themselves  a  meeting-house  in  Boston; 
and  the  "abominable  Quakers"  still  came,  spite  of  flogging  from 
town  to  town  out  of  the  colony. 

Half  a  century  had  now  passed  since  the  pilgrim  fathers  first 
landed  in  the  New  "World,  and  many  of  the  "  old  worthies "  had 
departed  on  a  still  further  pilgrimage.  "  Wilson,  the  sincere  though 
persecuting  minister,  who  had  mounted  into  a  tree  in  his  zeal  to 
preach  against  Anne  Hutchinson ;  the  mild  John  Davenport,  the 
founder  of  New  Haven ;  Willoughby,  the  advocate  of  toleration ; 


(1670.)     INDIAN   AND   WHITE   POPULATION   OF  NEW   ENGLAND.  199 

Bellingham,  and  many  other  patriarchs,  were  no  more;  having 
closed  their  lives  but  with  one  regret — that  they  had  not  been 
permitted  to  witness  the  fulness  of  New  England's  glory." 

In  the  midst  of  this  growing  prosperity,  a  sudden  tempest  of  blood 
and  misery  broke  over  New  England.  The  colonies  were  gradually 
extending  themselves ;  "  yet  the  entire  white  population,"  says  Hil- 
dreth,  "  did  not  yet  exceed  60,000,  occupying  the  sea-coast,  and  the 
lands  of  the  Lower  Connecticut.  Lancaster,  about  forty  miles  from 
Boston,  was  the  frontier  town  of  the  Bay  settlements ;  Brookfield, 
some  thirty  miles  from  the  river,  was  the  most  eastern  town  in  the 
Connecticut  valley.  There  intervened  between  these  townships  a 
great  space  of  rugged  country,  wholly  unsettled,  and  occupied  by  a 
few  straggling  Indian  tribes." 

Excepting  in  the  instance  of  the  Pequods,  the  native  tribes  of  New 
England  remained  very  much  undiminished.  The  Pocanokets  still 
occupied  the  eastern,  and  the  Narragansetts  the  western,  side  of 
Narragansett  Bay.  In  Connecticut  but  few  natives  remained,  as  the 
various  tribes  had  mostly  ceded  their  land  to  the  new-comers.  Uncas, 
the  celebrated  Mohegan  chief,  was  now  an  old  man.  The  Penacooks 
still  occupied  the  falls  of  the  Merrimac  and  the  heads  of  the  Piscata- 
qua,  their  aged  sachem,  Passaconaway,  having  great  respect  for  the 
whites.  "  The  Indians  of  Maine  and  the  region  eastward  possessed 
iheir  ancient  haunts  undisturbed ;  but  their  intercourse  was  princi- 
pally with  the  French  settlers.  Acadia  was  again  given  up.  The 
New  England  Indians  were  ocasionally  harassed  by  war-parties  of 
Mohawks,  but  by  the  intervention  of  Massachusetts  peace  had 
recently  been  established." 

Earnest  endeavours  were  being  made  to  convert  the  Indians  to 
Christianity;  Eliot  and  his  devoted  coadjutors  were  labouring  to 
bring  these  forlorn  children  of  the  forest  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  and 
already,  as  we  have  related,  civilisation  and  Christianity  had  been 
accepted  by  considerable  numbers.  Still  those  remained  who  proudly 
resisted  their  influence,  among  which  were  the  Narragansetts  and 
Pocanokets  already  mentioned,  lying  in  the  very  midst  of  the  English 
settlements.  These  tribes,  who  boasted  of  the  glory  and  power  of 
their  forefathers,  of  their  great  numbers  and  vast  extent  of  territory, 
had  been  galled  by  the  gradual  and  irresistible  advance  of  the  white 


200  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

intruders  in  their  boundaries,  until  at  length  they  found  themselves 
confined  to  the  peninsulas  formed  by  the  northern  and  eastern 
branches  of  Narragansett  Bay,  and  began  to  dread  that  they  should 
be  driven  into  the  very  sea  itself. 

None  felt  these  humiliating  circumstances  more  painfully  than 
Pometacom,  or  king  Philip  of  Mount  Hope,  as  he  was  called  by  the 
colonists,  chief  of  the  Pocanokets,  and  son  of  that  Massasoit  who  had 
welcomed  the  pilgrim  fathers,  and  ever  shown  himself  their  nrni 
friend.  Already,  in  1670,  suspected  of  hostile  intentions,  he  had 
been  compelled  to  give  up  his  fire-arms,  to  pay  a  heavy  fine,  und 
acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  the  English.  By  some  writers  it  has 
been  asserted,  that  Philip  had  for  several  years  been  labouring  to 
effect  a  union  of  the  tribes  for  the  purpose  of  a  war  of  extermination 
on  the  English ;  but  this  was  never  proved.  Others  say,  so  far 
from  having  hostile  designs,  that  he  received  the  news  of  the  first 
Englishman  who  was  slain  with  a  sorrow  which  forced  tears  from  his 
eyes ;  and  that  the  ardour  of  his  young  men  alone  compelled  him 
into  the  war  against  his  own  judgment.  Be  this  as  it  may,  however, 
a  converted  Indian,  who,  on  account  of  some  misdemeanour,  had  fled 
to  Philip,  returned  after  a  while  to  his  former  friends,  and  perhaps 
to  ingratiate  himself,  accused  Philip  of  a  murderous  plot.  In  June 
of  the  following  year,  1675,  this  man  was  killed,  and  three  Indians, 
taken  up  and  tried  on  suspicion  of  the  murder  by  a  jury  half  English 
and  half  Indians,  were  condemned  and  executed.  This  roused  the  whole 
tribe,  and  Philip  sending  away  the  women  and  children  for  protec- 
tion to  the  Narragansetts,  the  chief  of  whom  was  Canonchet,  the  son 
of  Miantonomoh,  who  was  burning  yet  to  revenge  the  death  of  his 
father,  plundered  some  houses  near  Mount  Hope,  and  shortly  after 
made  an  attack  on  Swanzey,  where  several  people  were  killed. 

Speaking  of  this  war,  Bancroft  very  justly  says:  "Frenzy 
prompted  the  rising  of  the  Indians.  It  was  but  the  storm  in  which 
the  ancient  inhabitants  of  the  land  were  to  vanish  away.  They  rose 
without  hope,  and  they  fought  without  mercy.  For  them  as  a 
nation  there  was  no  to-morrow." 

The  whole  country  was  in  a  state  of  alarm,  and  the  troops  of 
Plymouth  and  Boston  marched  into  the  enemies'  country,  and  advanc- 
ing to  Mount  Hope,  the  residence  of  Philip,  who  had  retreated  with 


(1675.)  SUPPOSED   SIGNS   OF   THE   WRATH    OP   HEAVEN.  201 

his  warriors  on  their  approach,  several  Indians  were  killed.  As  yet, 
the  Narragansetts  were  quiet;  but  it  being  suspected  that  they 
favoured  the  designs  of  Philip,  the  English  forces  proceeded  into 
their  territory  and  compelled  Canonchet  to  sign  a  treaty  of  peace. 

And  not  alone  was  the  public  mind  agitated  by  fears  of  the 
Indians :  other  causes  of  terror  prevailed.  The  aurora  borealis  lit  up 
the  midnight  sky ;  the  moon  was  eclipsed ;  strange  and  awful  sights 
were  seen  in  the  heavens;  Indian  bows,  and  scalps  and  armies 
careering  with  lightning  speed ;  the  moaning  of  the  wind  and  the 
howling  of  the  wolves  became  also  prophetic  of  dire  calamity.  The 
awe-stricken  people  thought  of  the  "  signs  in  the  sun,  and  the  moon, 
and  the  stars ;  and  upon  earth  distress  of  nations,  with  perplexity ; 
the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring;  men's  hearts  failing  them  for  fear 
and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  are  coming  on  the  earth." 

The  approaching  war,  of  which  these  signs  were  supposed  to  be 
the  prognostics,  caused  the  austere  Puritans  to  consult  through  their 
elders  as  to  the  sins  for  which  these  calamities  were  the  judgment  ; 
and  a  long  list  was  drawn  up,  among  others,  "  neglect  in  the  religious 
training  of  their  children ;  pride  in  dress ;  long  and  curled  hair  worn 
by  the  men ;  the  uncovered  bosoms  of  the  women  and  the  wearing  of 
superfluous  ribbons ;  toleration  of  the  Quakers  ;  hurry  in  leaving  the 
meeting-houses;  cursing,  swearing  and  drinking ;  and  the  riding 
from  town  to  town  of  unmarried  men  and  women,  on  pretence  01 
attending  lectures  " — these,  and  other  such  things,  were  considered  t  j 
be  the  cause  of  God's  anger,  and  still  greater  austerity  of  life  was 
required.  Meantime,  the  Pocanokets  driven  from  Mount  Hope, 
Philip  and  his  warriors  were  fugitives  among  the  Nipmucks,  a  tribe 
in  the  interior  of  Massachusetts ;  the  tribes  in  Connecticut  remained 
faithful,  and  the  Narragansetts  were  quiet ;  nevertheless,  the  colonists 
were  on  the  alert,  and  in  November  a  combined  force  of  1,500  men 
was  raised  to  carry  on  the  war  against  the  Indians,  which  was  now 
pronounced  to  be  "just  and  necessary." 

"  The  war  on  the  part  of  the  Indians,"  says  Bancroft,  "  was  one  of 
ambushes  and  surprises.  They  never  once  met  the  English  in  open 
field.  They  were  secret  as  beasts  of  prey,  skilful  marksmen  and  in 

part  provided  with  fire-arms,  fleet  of  foot,  conversant  with  all  the 

9* 


202  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

paths  of  the  forest,  patient  of  fatigue  and  burning  for  vengeance  on  an 
enemy  whom  at  the  same  time  they  feared  and  hated.  By  the 
rapidity  of  their  descent,  they  seemed  omnipresent  among  the  scat- 
tered villages,  which  they  ravaged  like  a  passing  storm.  The  forest 
that  protected  their  ambush  secured  their  retreat ;  they  hung  upon 
the  skirts  of  the  English  villages  '  like  the  lightning  on  the  edge  of 
the  cloud.' " 

The  English,  unwilling  that  Philip  should  be  sheltered  among  the 
Nipmucks,  whom  they  regarded  as  their  allies,  sent  a  force  into  their 
territory  to  remonstrate  with  them;  but  the  Indians,  lying  in 
ambush,  fell  upon  them  near  the  appointed  place,  and  killed  most  of 
them.  The  remainder  fled  to  the  village  of  Brookfield,  where  a  house 
was  hastily  fortified,  and  they  stood  a  siege  for  two  days,  when  the 
Indians  set  fire  to  the  house ;  but  the  flames  were  extinguished  by 
violent  and  sudden  rain,  and  soon  after  a  party  coming  to  the  relief 
of  the  besieged  the  Indians  fled.  A  few  days  later  the  village  of 
Deerfield  was  burned  ;  and  on  the  same  day,  "  it  being  Sunday,  the 
town  of  Hadley  was  attacked  at  the  time  of  public  worship,  and  the 
people  thrown  into  the  utmost  confusion,  when  on  a  sudden  there 
appeared  in  the  midst  of  the  affrighted  inhabitants  a  man  of  vene- 
rable aspect,  who  put  himself  at  their  head,  and  led  them  to  the  onset." 
The  army  was  completely  routed,  but  the  stranger,  who  was  almost 
supposed  to  be  an  angel  from  heaven,  had  disappeared.  It  was  the 
regicide  General  Goffe,  who  was  at  that  time  concealed  in  the  town. 
About  the  same  time,  Captain  Beers  and  his  company  were  cut  off  at 
Deerfield  by  a  brook,  which,  running  red  with  their  blood,  is  called 
to  this  day  "  the  Bloody  Brook."  Deerfield  was  a  devoted  place ;  the 
harvests  were  gathered  in  under  force  of  arms,  and,  says  the  old  nar- 
rative, "  on  September  18th,  that  most  fatal  day,  the  saddest  that  ever 
befell  New  England,  as  the  company  under  Captain  Lathrop  were 
marching  along  with  the  carts,  they  were  suddenly  set  upon,  and 
ninety  of  them  killed,  not  above  seven  or  eight  escaping  ; "  and  thus 
fell  "  that  choice  company  of  young  men,  the  very  flower  of  the 
county  of  Essex ;  all  culled  out  of  the  towns  belonging  to  that 
county ;  their  dear  relations  at  home  mourning  for  them,  like  Rachel 
for  her  children."  The  village  of  Springfield  was  burned ;  the  more 


(1075.)  JOSIAH   WINSLOW'S    ONSLAUGHT   ON   THE    NARRAGANSETTS.     203 

distant  settlements  were  deserted,  and  all  "  the  pleasant  residences 
which  had  been  won  by  hard  toil  in  the  desert,  the  stations  of  civilisa- 
tion in  the  wilderness,  were  laid  waste." 

A  quick  alarm  ran  through  those  sylvan  bowers, 

All  the  wild  tumult  of  approaching  war : 
And  in  the  deep  hush  of  the  midnight  hours 

The  dismal  war-whoop  sounded  from  afar, 

Bousing  the  slumberers  up  with  its  unearthly  jar. 

And  with  the  morning's  light  was  sadly  traced, 

Where  those  wild  dwellers  of  the  woods  had  gone ; 
Behind  them  lay  a  black  and  smoking  waste. 

As  carrying  fire  and  terror  they  went  on. 

Winter  was  now  at  hand  and  that  season  was  unfavourable  to 
Indian  warfare,  the  leafless  trees  affording  them  no  longer  ambush, 
while  the  hardened  surface  of  the  swamps,  which  were  the  strong- 
holds of  the  savage,  rendered  them  accessible  to  their  enemies.  It  was 
now  resolved  to  include  the  Narragansetts  in  the  list  of  enemies,  and 
accordingly,  just  before  Christmas,  1,000  men,  headed  by  Josiah 
Wirislow,  entered  the  Narragansett  country,  then  covered  with  deep 
snow.  At  length  they  reached  one  of  the  ancient  fastnesses  of  the 
Indians,  where  the  town  of  South  Kingstone  now  stands.  "  It  was 
built  on  a  rising  ground,"  says  Hildreth,  "  in  the  morass,  a  sort  of 
Island  of  five  or  six  acres,  fortified  by  a  palisade,  and  surrounded  by 
a  close  hedge.  There  was  but  one  entrance,  quite  narrow,  defended 
by  a  tree  thrown  across  it,  with  a  block-house  of  logs  in  front  and 
another  at  the  back.  It  was  Lord's-day,  but  that  did  not  hinder  the 
attack."  Desperate  was  the  onset,  and  equally  desperate  the  defence  ; 
victory  for  some  time  was  doubtful,  but  at  length,  after  many  lives 
were  lost  on  both  sides,  the  English  became  masters  of  the  fort.  The 
wigwams,  amounting  to  600  in  number,  were  fired,  and  "  all  the 
horrors  of  the  Pequod  massacre  renewed."  "  Most  of  their  provisions, 
as  well  as  their  dwellings,  were  consumed  with  fire,"  says  the  old 
narrative,  "  and  those  that  were  left  alive  were  forced  to  hide  them- 
selves  in  a  cedar  swamp  not  far  off,  where  they  had  nothing  to  defend 
themselves  from  the  cold  but  boughs  of  spruce  and  pine-trees."  The 
English  were  masters  of  the  place,  and  after  burning  all  they  could 


204  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

set  fire  to,  they  retired  •with,  their  dead  and  wounded,  amounting  to 
between  200  and  300.  This  terrible  contest  is  known  as  the  "  Swamp 
Fight." 

"  Our  victory,"  continues  the  chronicle,  which  reads  like  the  history 
of  some  wholesale  slaughter  of  the  heathen  by  the  children  of  Israel, 
"  was  more  considerable  than  we  at  first  expected.  The  enemy  lost 
many  of  their  principal  fighting  men,  their  provisions  also  by  the 
burning  of  their  wigwams  and  stores,  so  that  it  was  the  cause  of  their 
total  ruin,  they  being  driven  away  from  their  habitations,  and  put  by 
from  planting  for  the  next  year.  Seven  hundred  fighting  men  of 
the  Indians  died  that  day,  besides  300  that  died  of  their  wounds. 
The  number  of  old  men,  women  and  children  that  perished  either  by 
fire,  or  that  were  starved  with  hunger  and  cold,  none  can  tell." 

"  Now,  indeed,"  may  we  say  with  Bancroft,  "  was  the  cup  of  misery 
full  for  the  red  men.  Without  shelter  and  without  food,  they  hid 
themselves  in  the  cedar  swamp.  They  prowled  the  forests  and 
pawed  up  the  snow  for  ground-nuts  and  acorns ;  they  ate  the  rem- 
nants of  horse-flesh ;  they  sunk  down  and  died  from  feebleness  and 
want  of  food. 

"  The  spirit  of  Canonchet  did  not  droop  under  the  disasters  of  his 
tribe.  '  We  will  fight  to  the  last  man,'  said  he,  '  rather  than  become 
servants  to  the  English.'  In  April,  however,  he  was  taken.  His 
life  was  offered  him  if  he  would  procure  a  treaty  of  peace.  He 
refused  with  disdain ;  and  being  condemned  to  death,  remarked,  '  I 
like  it  well ;  I  shall  die  before  my  heart  grows  soft — before  I  speak 
anything  unworthy  of  myself.' "  Two  Indians,  in  the  employ  of  the 
English,  shot  him,  and  his  head  was  sent  to  Hartford. 

The  scattered  remains  of  the  Indians  in  the  meantime  pursued  the 
work  of  vengeance.  "We  will  fight,"  said  they,  "these  twenty 
years ;  you  have  houses,  barns  and  corn  ;  we  have  nothing  to  lose." 
And  Lancaster  was  burned,  and  forty  of  its  inhabitants  killed  and 
taken  prisoners,  among  the  rest  Mary  Rolandson,  the  wife  of  the 
minister,  whose  narrative  of  the  fearful  event  is  still  preserved.  The 
towns  of  Medfield,  Groton,  Maryborough  and  Weymouth,  only 
eighteen  miles  from  Boston,  were  all  laid  in  ashes ;  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Narragansett  country  was  deserted :  the  towns  of  Rhode 
Island,  though  they  had  taken  no  part  in  the  war,  sufiered  j  Warwick 


(1676.)  CONTINUATION    OP    THE    INDIAN   WAR.  2C5 

was  burned,  and  Providence  partially  destroyed.  Roger  Williams, 
now  an  aged  man,  whose  influence  had  formerly  been  so  great  with 
the  Narragansetts,  accepted  a  captain's  commission  for  the  defence  of 
Providence,  and  another  governor  was  chosen  in  the  place  of  Cod- 
ding ton,  whose  peaceable  Quaker  principles  would  not  allow  him  to 
fight  even  in  a  war  of  defence. 

The  attack  on  the  Narragansetts,  who  had  always  been  faithful 
allies  of  the  English,  was  as  unjustifiable  as  it  was  impolitic.  The 
whole  country  was  now  filled  with  hostile  Indians  ;  security  was  at 
an  end  ;  every  forest-path  was  an  ambush  for  the  day -light  assault, 
and  the  silence  of  night  was  broken  by  the  fearful  war-whoop,  which 
was  followed  by  murder  and  fire.  The  sufferings  of  the  Indians, 
also,  were  extreme ;  they  had  no  provisions,  and  their  ammunition 
was  exhausted.  Vain  were  all  their  attempts  now  to  retrieve  their 
circumstances  ;  the  English  attacked  them  even  while  attempting  to 
plant  corn,  or  to  fish  for  a  subsistence. 

The  English  pursued  the  war  with  unabated  determination,  and,  in 
the  spring  of  1676,  were  in  most  cases  victorious.  Jealousies  had 
also  arisen  among  the  tribes  themselves,  and  many  submitted,  while 
others  fled  to  the  north.  Philip  was  like  a  hunted  wild  beast ;  he 
fled  from  one  tribe  to  another,  endeavouring1  still  to  rouse  them 
against  the  whites.  In  vain  had  the  Mohawks  urged  upon  him  sub- 
mission ;  he  gave  the  warrior  his  death-blow  who  spoke  of  peace ;  and 
now,  twelve  months  after  the  war  broke  out,  he  returned  to  Mount 
Hope,  which  was  still  held  by  him,  by  his  relative  Witamo,  the 
squaw-sachem  of  Pocasset.  Philip  was  watched  narrowly  by  Captain 
Church,  who  at  length  surprised  his  camp,  killed  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  his  people,  and  took  captive  his  wife  and  son.  The  elders 
deliberated  long  on  the  fate  of  this  child,  the  youngest  branch  of  the 
family  of  the  friendly  Massasoit;  many  were  for  putting  him  to  death, 
but  finally  he  was  sold  as  a  slave  in  Bermuda,  which  was  the  hapless 
fate  of  many  another  noble  son  of  the  forest.  Witamo  shared  the 
calamities  of  Philip  ;  her  people  were  killed,  and  she  herself  drowned 
while  crossing  a  river.  Her  body,  however,  was  recovered,  and  the 
head,  being  cut  off,  was  set  upon  a  pole,  "amid  the  scoffs  and  jeers  of 
the  soldiers,  and  the  tears  and  lamentations  of  the  Indians." 

Philip  still  lurked  in  the  swamps,  where  he  was  now  beset  on  all 


20(>  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

hands,  arid  at  length,  when  endeavouring  to  make  his  escape,  was  shot 
through  the  heart  by  one  of  his  own  nation  who  had  deserted  to  the 
English.  His  dead  body  was  beheaded  and  quartered.  One  of  his 
hands  was  given  to  the  Indian  who  shot  him,  and  five  days  afterwards, 
on  the  day  appointed  to  be  kept  as  "  a  solemn  thanksgiving  to  God," 
his  head  was  carried  in  triumph  to  Plymouth. 

Through  this  terrible  war  the  Mohegans  had  remained  faithful  to 
the  English,  and  no  blood  had  been  shed  in  happy  Connecticut.  The 
war  was  at  an  end,  but  vengeance  was  not  yet  appeased.  Many  chiefs, 
noted  warriors  of  their  respective  tribes,  were  executed  at  Boston  and 
Plymouth ;  200  Indians,  who  had  on  one  occasion  come  to  treat  of 
peace,  were  treacherously  taken  prisoners  and  carried  to  Boston,  where 
some  were  hanged,  and  others  sold  as  slaves.  A  bloodthirsty  and 
remorseless  spirit  governed  the  whole  colony.  The  captives  who  fell 
to  the  share  of  the  Rhode  Islanders  were  treated  with  somewhat  more 
mercy;  they  were  distributed  among  the  different  families  as  servants 
or  slaves.  To  Roger  Williams  a  boy  was  thus  apportioned. 

The  losses  of  the  English  are  thus  estimated:  twelve  or  thirteen 
towns  destroyed ;  600  men,  chiefly  young  men,  killed ;  600  houses 
burned.  Of  the  able-bodied  men  of  the  colony  one  in  twenty  had 
fallen,  and  one  family  in  twenty  had  been  burnt  out.  Scarcely  a 
family  existed  which  had  not  lost  a  member.  Peace,  however,  was 
now  generally  established ;  though  in  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  the 
tribes  remained  hostile  for  yet  two  years. 

The  Pocanoke.ts  and  the  Narragansetts  had  shared  the  fate  of  the 
Pequods  ;  the  country  of  the  Pocanokets  was  annexed  to  Plymouth, 
though  sixty  years  afterwards  it  was  transferred  to  Rhode  Island ; 
the  Narragansett  territory  was  for  long  a  disputed  possession.  The 
few  Indians  of  these  tribes  who  still  remained,  removed  to  the  west 
and  north.  They  were  no  longer  a  nation. 

After  this  the  work  of  conversion  went  on  with  renewed  vigour. 
A  second  edition  of  the  Indian  Old  Testament,  which,  as  if  an  evidence 
of  the  spirit  which  influenced  the  whites  towards  them,  was  more  in 
request  than  the  New,  was  published ;  but  at  this  day  not  an  indi- 
vidual remains  to  whom  it  can  be  useful. 

The  converted  or  praying  Indians,  as  they  were  called,  suffered 
much  j  by  their  forest  brethren  they  were  hated  as  Christians,  by  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  207 

Cliristians  suspected  as  Indians.  Four  only,  of  their  fourteen  towns, 
remained  to  them ;  but  Eliot  continued  to  be  the  "  faithful  shepherd 
of  these,  his  poor,  despised  flpck  in  the  wilderness,"  and  braved  many 
dangers  and  hardships  on  their  account. 

Various  romantic  incidents  occurred  in  this  war,  two  of  which  we 
will  relate.  The  escape  of  Anne  Brackett,  the  grand-daughter  of 
George  Cleves,  the  first  settler  of  Portland,  was  the  marvel  of  that 
day.  "  Her  family  had  been  taken  captive  at  the  sack  of  Falmouth. 
When  her  captors  hastened  forward  to  further  ravages  on  the  Ken- 
nebec,  she  was  able  to  loiter  behind,  and,  discovering  the  wreck  of  a 
birchen  bark,  she  repaired  it  by  means  of  needle  and  thread,  which 
she  found  in  a  deserted  house*  Then  with  her  husband,  a  negro 
servant  and  her  infant  child,  she  confided  herself  to  the  sea  in  this 
frail  bark,  which  was  like  a  feather  on  the  waves.  And  thus  she 
crossed  Casco  Bay  and  arrived  at  Black  Point,  where  she  feared  to 
find  Indians.  Indians  however  there  were  none,  but  to  her  joy 
a  vessel  from  Piscataqua,  on  board  which  she  was  received,  together 
•with  those  so  dear  to  her,  whose  lives  she  had  saved." 

Again,  on  one  occasion,  "some  fugitive  Indian's  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  Canada  descended  the  Connecticut,  and  falling  upon  a  party 
assembled  at  Hadley,  at  a  house-raising,  carried  off  twenty  persons. 
The  husbands  of  two  of  the  female  captives  proceeded  to  Canada,  by 
way  of  Albany  and  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  guided  by  a 
Mohawk  Indian — the  first  recorded  journey  made  in  this  direction — 
and  by  the  intervention  of  the  French  government  the  captives  were 
redeemed.' 


208  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  CHARTER  OF  MASSACHUSETTS   ANNULLED. 

BUT  with,  the  conclusion  of  the  Indian  war  the  troubles  of  Massa- 
chusetts were  not  at  an  end.  The  merchants  of  London,  jealous  of 
the  rising  commercial  power  of  New  England,  complained  of  her 
total  disregard  of  the  laws  of  trade,  and  the  Navigation  Act  was 
attempted  to  be  enforced  with  renewed  vigour. 

In  1677,  the  controversy  which  had  been  so  long  pending  between 
Massachusetts  and  the  heirs  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  relative  to 
Maine,  was  decided  by  Massachusetts  purchasing  their  claim  through 
the  agency  of  a  wealthy  Boston  merchant,  from  the  said  heirs,  for 
£1,200;  and  thus,  spite  of  Charles  II.'s  wish  to  obtain  it  as  an 
appanage  for  the  Duke  of  Monmouth,  Maine  became  a  province  of 
the  State  of  Massachusetts.  The  extent  of  the  province,  however, 
was  not  equal  to  that  which  constitutes  the  present  State  of  Maine. 
France  occupied  the  district  from  St.  Croix  to  the  Penobscot,  and 
New  York  that  between  the  Penobscot  and  the  Kennebec. 

New  Hampshire  had  now  for  some  years  submitted  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Massachusetts,  under  which  it  was  greatly  content;  but 
Mason's  claims,  which  had  long  lain  dormant,  having  been  again 
revived  in  England,  were  only  decided  to  be  valid  with  respect  to 
unappropriated  land ;  and  the  government,  wishful  to  humble  and 
mortify  Massachusetts,  pronounced  the  towns  on  the  Piscataqua  not 
to  be  within  her  limits,  and,  in  1679,  proceeded  formally  to  separate 
New  Hampshire  from  her  jurisdiction.  New  Hampshire  was  now 
erected  into  a  royal  province,  the  assembly  to  be  chosen  by  the 
people,  the  president  and  council  to  be  appointed  by  the  crown. 


(1679.)  CRANFIELD  SENT  AS  GOVERNOR  TO  NEW  HAMPSHIRE.     209 

This  change  was  extremely  unwelcome  to  the  people  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  the  following  year  the  General  Assembly  sorrowfully 
addressed  the  friends  from  whom  they  were  severed  in  these  words  : — 
"We  thankfully  acknowledge  your  kindness  while  we  dwelt  under 
your  shadow,  avowing  ourselves  deeply  obliged  that,  on  our  earnest 
request,  you  took  us  under  your  government  and  ruled  us  well.  If 
there  be  opportunity  for  us  to  be  in  anywise  serviceable  to  you,  we 
shall  show  you  how  ready  we  are  to  embrace  it.  "Wishing  the 
presence  of  God  to  be  with  you,  we  crave  the  benefit  of  your  prayers 
on  us  who  are  separated  from  our  brethren." 

The  colony,  now  a  royal  province,  endeavoured  nevertheless  still 
to  maintain  the  principles  of  democratic  liberty  in  the  new  code 
which  was  drawn  up  by  the  General  Assembly,  but  which  was 
utterly  disapproved  and  rejected  when  sent  to  England.  Mason  also 
found  it  next  to  impossible  to  establish  his  claims  even  to  unappro- 
priated lands,  and  returning  to  England,  sent  over  one  Cranfield,  a 
needy  adventurer,  as  his  agent  and  as  governor  of  the  province,  with 
a  mortgage  on  the  whole  for  twenty-one  years,  the  crown  being  a 
party  to  the  arrangement  and  receiving  from  Mason  one-fifth  of  all 
quit-rents  for  the  support  of  the  government,  which  revenue  was 
allowed  to  Cranfield  as  his  salary.  Full  of  the  hope  of  speedily 
making  a  large  fortune,  Cranfield  arrived  in  the  province,  but  only  to 
find  that  lu  had  to  deal  with  men  of  a  determined  and  patriotic  spirit, 
ready  in  every  way  to  oppose  his  aggressions  under  whatever  form 
they  might  appear.  The  people  were  vexed  with  law-suits  and  the 
imposition  of  fines  from  one  end  of  the  province  to  the  other.  In 
vain  the  governor  made  use  of  every  subterfuge  to  raise  money  and  to 
intimidate;  now  on  the  pretence  of  invasion,  now  by  prosecutions 
regarding  church  discipline,  now  by  the  terror  of  an  approaching 
Indian  war.  It  was  to  no  purpose  ;  he  had  to  deal  with  a  people  firm 
as  the  granite  mountains  of  their  land,  and  from  their  steadfastness, 
rather  than  from  the  character  of  these  bulwarks  of  nature,  New 
Hampshire  to  this  day  retains  the  appellation  of  the  Granite  State. 

It  was  impossible  to  gather  the  illegal  taxes  which  Cranfield 
imposed.  Associations  were  formed  to  resist  their  collection.  At  one 
town  the  sheriff  was  driven  away  with  clubs,  and  his  officer  threat- 


210  HISTORY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ened  with  spits  and  scalding  water  by  the  irate  and  determined 
farmers'  wives,  whose  household  goods  he  was  about  to  distrain  upon ; 
in  another  place  he  was  despoiled  of  his  signs  of  office,  and  with  a  rope 
round  his  neck,  conveyed  out  of  the  province.  Cranfield  was  soon 
as  glad  to  withdraw  from  "  these  unreasonable  people,"  as  he  termed 
them,  as  Mason  had  been  before  him. 

Returning  now  to  Massachusetts,  against  whom  not  only  the  Tory 
party,  now  in  power,  but  the  commercial  interests  of  England  were 
placed  in  such  hostile  array,  we  find  a  question  started  which  was 
calculated  to  shake  her  to  the  very  centre.  Seeing  it  was  impossible 
to  bring  her  to  obedience  by  any  measure  which  had  hitherto  been 
tried,  a  question  was  started  "as  to  the  legal  entity  of  her  charter  ; " 
and  the  crown  not  being  able  to  deny  the  validity  of  the  patent,  a 
writ  of  quo  warranto,  before  which  the  cities  and  boroughs  of  England 
had  just  yielded,  was  proposed.  The  colony  beheld  the  gloomy 
aspect  of  the  future  with  sentiments  of  deep  emotion,  and  again  a  reli- 
gious fervour,  almost  superstitious,  possessed  all  hearts.  The  most 
solemn  religious  observances  were  adopted  ;  the  elders  took  it  again 
into  serious  deliberation  as  to  what  were  the  sins  of  New  England 
for  which  Heaven  visited  her  with  such  signal  judgments.  As  before, 
in  the  terror  of  the  Indians,  the  pardonable  sins  of  youthful  levity 
and  love  of  pleasure  were  looked  upon  as  offensive  to  God,  and  still 
greater  austerity  of  life  was  imposed.  They  forgot  what,  in  truth, 
were  the  crying  sins  of  the  colony — spiritual  pride,  bigotry  and 
intolerance — the  want  of  charity  and  mercy,  whether  to  Anabaptists, 
Quakers,  or  Indians.  The  colony,  like  some  sinful  city  of  old,  again 
humbled  itself  as  in  sackcloth  and  ashe^,  but  "  the  anger  of  the  Lord 
was  not  turned  aside." 

English  enactments,  in  1678,  began  to  be  in  force ;  high  treason 
became  a  capital  offence ;  the  oath  of  allegiance  was  required,  and 
the  king's  arms  were  erected  in  the  court-house.  The  colony,  how- 
ever, wishful  to  save  its  charter,  was  willing  to  make  some  conces- 
sions ;  therefore  resorting  to  an  expedient  which  might  save  their 
honour,  the  general  court  gave  validity  to  the  long  opposed  Naviga- 
tion Laws  by  an  act  of  its  own.  Massachusetts  asserted  thus  the 
right  to  govern  herself;  and  Charles,  still  more  exasperated,  resolved 


(1682.)  STRUGGLES  OFHASSACHUSETTS  TO  PRESERVE  THEIR  CHARTER.  211 

on  her  humiliation.  A  struggle  ensued,  during  which  Edward  Ran- 
dolph was  twice  sent  from  England  to  assist  in  bringing  the  stiff- 
necked  colony  into  order. 

At  length,  in  February,  1682,  affairs  growing  more  and  more 
desperate,  two  agents,  fully  empowered  to  act  for  the  colony,  were 
sent  over  from  New  England,  the  prayers  of  the  whole  common- 
wealth accompanying  them,  not  only  for  their  safety,  but  for  the 
safety  of  the  patent — their  great  charter  of  liberty.  But  they  were 
unsuccessful ;  perhaps  because,  to  use  the  phraseology  of  those  times, 
"  the  anger  of  the  Lord  was  against  them,"  they  having,  as  it 
appears  to  us,  unworthily,  in  imitation  of  France  and  the  whole  spirit 
of  the  English  court,  gone  with  a  bribe  in  their  hands. 

But  bribes  or  concessions  were  equally  unavailing ;  there  was  no 
hope  for  the  charter.  In  vain  was  Massachusetts  moved,  from  one 
boundary  to  another,  as  by  a  public  calamity,  in  which  every  house- 
hold, every  individual  suffered  ;  in  vain  it  was  spoken  of  everywhere ; 
in  vain  deplored ;  in  vain  was  it  the  subject  of  household  prayer  and 
of  the  Sabbath  sermon ;  the  charter  was  doomed,  and  the  unsuccess- 
ful agents  returned.  Again  the  hated  Randolph  arrived  in  a 
royal  frigate,  bringing  with  him  a  writ  of  quo  warranto,  which  was 
served  by  himself  on  the  magistrates.  But  the  king  was  willing  to 
be  gracious,  and  would  Massachusetts  only  submit,  "  as  few  innova- 
tions should  be  made  as  possible,  consistent  with  a  royal  govern- 
ment ;  "  such  was  the  message  of  irritated  majesty  received  by  the 
democratic  state. 

Again  was  there  a  deep  deliberation  throughout  Massachusetts  ; 
and  from  that  day  two  parties  existed  in  the  state,  "  the  patriots  who 
defended  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  and  the  prerogative  men  who 
were  in  favour  of  complete  submission  to  the  royal  authority."  For 
a  whole  fortnight,  the  question  was  debated ;  "  the  civil  liberties  of 
New  England,"  argued  they  nobly,  "  are  part  of  the  inheritance  of 
our  fathers ;  shall  we  give  that  inheritance  away  ?  It  is  objected 
that  we  shall  be  exposed  to  great  sufferings.  Better  suffer  than  sin. 
It  is  better  to  trust  the  God  of  our  fathers  than  to  put  confidence  in 
princes.  If  we  suffer  because  we  dare  not  comply  with  the  wills  of 
men  against  the  will  of  God,  we  suffer  in  a  good  cause,  and  shall  be 
accounted  martyrs  in  the  next  generation,  and  at  the  great  day." 


212  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  decision  was  recorded,  that  "the  deputies  consent  not,  but 
adhere  to  their  former  bills."  Agents  again  were  sent  to  the  king  to 
entreat  his  forbearance ;  but  the  charter  was  already  annulled.  On 
July  2nd,  1685,  a  copy  of  the  judgment  was  received  in  Boston  and 
sorrow  and  humiliation  overspread  the  colony. 


(1630.)  THE  SOUTHERN  STATES.  213 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   SETTLEMENT   OF  CAROLINA. 

WE  must  now  leave  for  the  present  the  States  of  New  England, 
austere  alike  in  character  and.  clime,  and  turn  to  those  summer  realms 
of  the  South  which  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  early  French  and 
Spanish  adventurers.  We  must  become  more  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  region  where  De  Soto  wandered  in  search  of  the  land  of 
gold  ;  where  the  good  Coligny  planted  his  settlements  of  persecuted 
Huguenots ;  where  catholic  bigotry  dyed  the  soil  with  their  blood ; 
and  where,  also,  the  brave  Raleigh  planned  magnificent  schemes  of 
colonisation,  and  reaped  only  the  fruits  of  disappointment  and 
sorrow, 

The  vast  territory  of  North  America  was,  for  half  a  century  after 
the  English  began  to  colonise  it,  divided  into  two  districts,  called 
North  and  South  Virginia ;  "  all  lands  lying  towards  the  river  St. 
Lawrence,  from  the  northern  boundaries  of  the  province  now  called 
Virginia,  belonged  to  the  northern,  and  all  those  to  the  southward,  as 
far  as  the  Gulf  of  Florida,  to  the  southern  district." 

The  French  colonists  first  gave  the  name  of  CAROLINA  to  the 
country  which  is  still  so  designated,  in  honour  of  their  worthless 
monarch,  Charles  IX.  In  1630,  Charles  I.  of  England  granted  a 
tract  of  land  south  of  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Sir  Robert  Heath,  his 
attorney-general,  under  the  name  of  Carolana ;  but  owing  to  the  poli- 
tical agitations  in  England,  the  projected  colonisation  of  this  country 
was  never  carried  out.  With  the  Restoration,  the  English  re-asserted 
their  claim  to  that  portion  of  America  which  had  been  known  under 
the  designation  of  South  Virginia,  and  the  fertility  and  desirableness 
of  which  was  now  an  established  fact.  Somewhat  before  the  time, 


214  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

therefore,  when  the  restored  monarch  made  a  grant  to  his  brother  of 
the  Dutch  possessions  of  New  Netherlands,  he  conferred  the  vast 
territory  comprised  between   Albemarle   Sound,  southward  to  the 
river  St.  John,  under  the  name  of  Carolina,  upon  eight  proprietors, 
among  whom  were  some  of  his  principal  courtiers ;  that  is  to  say, 
Clarendon,  the  prime  minister ;  General  Monk,  now  Duke  of  Albe- 
maiie ;  Lord  Craven,  the  supposed  husband  of  the  Queen  of  Bohemia ; 
Lord  Ashley  Cooper,  afterwards  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  ;  Sir  John  Col- 
leton,   Lord  John  Berkeley,  his  brother,  Sir  William,  governor  of 
Virginia,  and  Sir  George  Carteret.     The  grant  made  to  these  proprie- 
taries constituted  them  absolute  sovereigns  of  the  country.     Their 
right,  however,  was  immediately  disputed  both  by  the  Spaniards—- 
whose fort  of  St.  Augustine  was  considered  to  establish  actual  posses- 
sion—and by  the  assigns  of  Sir  Robert  Heath ;  but  neither  claimants 
could  stand  before  the  new  and  more  powerful  patentees.     Besides 
these,  other  parties  of  a  much  more  sturdy  and  unmanageable  charac- 
ter had  already  established  themselves  on  its  coasts.    New  England, 
which  possessed  within  itself  not  only  an  expansive  principle,  but 
one  which  took  deep  root  on  any  soil  which  it  touched,  had  planted 
not  only  a  little  settlement  on  Cape  Fear,  which  had  been  fostered  in 
its  distresses  by  the  mother-colony,  but  had  sown  the  seeds  of  demo- 
cratic liberty,  from  which,  in  part,  must  be  traced  the  resolute  spirit 
which  distinguished  the  colony  of  North  Carolina  in  the  long  struggle 
through  which  it  had  to  pass. 

Virginia,  too,  was  "  the  mother  of  colonies;"  and  in  1622,  "the 
adventurous  Porey,  then  secretary  of  Virginia,  travelled  overland  to 
the  banks  of  the  Chowan,  or  South  River,  reporting  on  his  return 
most  favourably  of  the  kindness  of  the  natives,  the  fertility  of  the 
country,  and  the  happy  climate,  which  yielded  two  harvests  in  the 
year."  During  the  succeeding  forty  years,  his  explorations  were 
followed  up,  and  when  religious  persecution  took  place  in  Virginia, 
dissenters  emigrated  largely.  The  country  around  Albemarle  Sound 
was  established  by  Nonconformists,  who  had  purchased  a  right  to 
their  lands  from  the  aborigines.  These  settlements  were  claimed  by 
the  new  proprietaries  of  Carolina,  and  Sir  William  Berkeley,  governor 
of  Virginia  and  one  of  the  joint  proprietors,  was  ordered  by  his  col- 
leagues to  assume  jurisdiction  over  them  in  their  name. 


(1665.)    BARBADOES  PLANTERS  IN  CLARENDON  COUNTRY.       215 

Berkeley,  however,  who  knew  too  well  the  character  of  these 
pioneer-settlers,  did  not  venture  to  enforce  his  orders  too  strictly. 
Instead  of  this,  he  appointed  William  Drummond,  one  of  the  settlers, 
"  a  man  of  prudence  and  popularity,"  to  he  the  governor  ;  and  insti- 
tuting a  simple  form  of  government,  a  council  of  six  members,  and 
an  easy  tenure  of  land,  left  the  colony  to  take  care  of  itself,  to  enjoy 
liberty  of  conscience  and  the  management  of  its  own  affairs.  "  Such," 
says  Bancroft,  "  was  the  origin  of  fixed  settlements  in  North  Caro- 
lina. The  child  of  ecclesiastical  oppression  was  swathed  in  indepen- 
dence." 

Besides  these  settlements  of  New  England  and  Virginia,  several 
planters  of  Barbadoes  had  purchased  from  the  Indians  a  tract  of  land 
thirty-two  miles  square  on  Cape  Fear  River,  where  the  New 
Englanders  had  first  settled  themselves,  and  now  applied  to  the  new 
proprietaries  for  a  confirmation  of  their  purchase  and  a  charter  of 
government.  All  their  wishes  were  not  granted,  but  Sir  John  Yea- 
mans,  a  cavalier  and  the  head  of  these  Barbadoes  planters,  was 
appointed  governor,  with  a  jurisdiction  extending  from  Cape  Fear 
to  the  St.  Matheo,  the  country  being  called  Clarendon.  This  settle- 
ment absorbed  that  of  the  New  Englanders,  who,  however,  were  so 
far  respected  that  Yeamans  was  instructed  to  be  "  very  tender " 
towards  them,  to  "  make  things  easy  to  the  people  of  New  England, 
that  others  might  be  attracted  there."  The  colony  immediately 
applied  itself  to  the  preparation  of  boards,  shingles  and  staves, 
to  be  shipped  to  the  West  Indies,  and  the  same  continues  to  this  day 
to  be  the  staple  of  that  region  of  pine  forests  and  sterile  plains. 

The  proprietaries  in  the  meantime  having-  ascertained  the  character 
of  their  territory,  and  become  better  acquainted  with  its  geography, 
obtained,  in  1665,  a  second  charter,  in  total  disregard  of  all  other 
claims,  and  this  time  their  grant  was  extended  half  a  degree  further 
north,  so  as  to  include  the  settlements  on  the  Chowan,  and  a  degree 
and  a  half  further  south,  including  the  Spanish  colony  of  St.  Augustine 
and  part  of  Florida,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This 
vast  grant  in  fact  comprised  all  the  present  territory  of  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  a  considerable  portion  of  Florida  and  Missouri,  nearly  all 
Texas  and  a  large  part  of  Mexico.  Nor  was  this  all ;  an  additional 


216  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

grant  shortly  afterwards  added  the  group  of  the  Bahama  Isles,  then 
famous  as  the  resort  of  buccaneers,  to  the  vast  realms  -which  their 
charter  already  included. 

The  infant  settlement  of  Albemarle  continued  to  receive  accessions 
from  Virginia  and  New  England ;  and  from  Bermuda,  already  famous 
for  the  building  of  fast-sailing  ships,  came  a  colony  of  ship-builders. 
In  1669,  the  first  laws  were  enacted  by  an  assembly  composed  of  the 
governor  Stevens,  who  had  succeeded  Drummond,  a  council  of  six, 
and  twelve  delegates  chosen  by  the  people.  According  to  the  laws  of 
Virginia,  land  was  offered  to  all  new-comers,  and  immigrant  debtors 
were  protected  for  five  years,  against  any  suit  for  debt  contracted 
beyond  the  colony.  The  governor  and  court  constituted  a  court  of 
justice,  and  were  entitled  to  a  fee  of  thirty  pounds  of  tobacco  on  every 
suit;  and  the  colony,  being  without  any  minister  of  religion,  mar- 
riage became  a  civil  rite.  Three  years  afterwards  the  proprietaries 
solemnly  confirmed  the  settlers  in  possession  of  their  lands,  and 
granted  to  them  the  right  of  nominating  six  councillors  in  addition 
to  the  six  nominated  by  the  patentees.  The  right  of  self-govern- 
ment was  thus  established  on  the  soil  of  North  Carolina. 

In  the  meantime  the  ambition  of  the  proprietaries,  extending  with 
the  extent  of  their  charter,  a  magnificent  scheme  of  sovereignty  was 
conceived,  which  was  intended  not  only  to  give  them  the  wealth  of 
empires  but  the  fame  of  legislators.  All  that  philosophic  intellect  and 
worldly  sagacity  could  do  to  frame  a  model  government  was  now 
done.  The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  deputed  by  his  fellow-proprie- 
taries to  frame  for  this  infant  empire  a  constitution  commensurate 
with  its  intended  greatness ;  and  he  employed  his  friend  and  protege 
John  Locke,  afterwards  so  well  known  for  his  philosophical  writings, 
as  his  agent  for  this  purpose. 

Locke  commenced  his  labours  on  the  principle  that  "compact  is  the 
true  basis  of  government,  and  the  protection  of  property  its  great 
end."  Cold  and  calculating,  with  no  generous  enthusiasm  of  soul,  no 
sympathetic  and  aspiring  impulses,  guided  alone  by  intellect  and 
conventionality,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  "  Grand  Model,"  as  the  con- 
stitution of  Carolina  was  called,  failed  of  practical  application,  and 
was,  finally,  after  the  vain  attempt  of  many  years  to  enforce  it,  aban- 
doned as  totally  inapplicable  to  its  purpose. 


(1669.)  THE    "  GRAND    MODEL   CONSTITUTION."  217 

It  has  been  well  remarked  that  "  the  formation  of  political  insti- 
tutions in  the  United  States  was  not  effected,  by  giant  minds  or 
nobles  after  the  flesh.  Their  truly  great  legislators  became  as  little 
children." 

But,  futile  as  was  this  Grand  Model  constitution,  we  must  give 
some  idea  of  it  to  our  readers,  to  show  how  little  intellect  merely  and 
political  wisdom  can  comprehend  the  principles  of  successful  govern- 
ment or  the  basis  of  a  prosperous  and  happy  social  state. 

"  The  interests  of  the  proprietaries,  a  government  most  agreeable 
to  monarchy,  and  a  careful  avoidance  of  a  numerous  democracy," 
are  the  avowed  threefold  objects  of  the  Carolina  constitution.  The 
proprietaries,  eight  in  number,  were  never  to  be  increased  or  di- 
minished ;  their  dignity  was  hereditary.  The  vast  extent  of  territory 
was  to  be  divided  into  counties,  each  containing  about  seven  hundred 
and  fifty  square  miles ;  to  each  county  appertained  two  orders  of 
nobility,  a  landgrave  or  earl,  and  two  caciques  or  barons  ;  the  land 
was  to  be  divided  into  five  equal  parts,  one  of  which  became  the 
inalienable  right  of  the  proprietaries,  another  equally  inalienably 
the  property  of  the  nobility,  and  the  remaining  three-fifths  were  re- 
served for  the  people,  and  .might  be  held  by  lords  of  manors  who 
were  not  hereditary  legislators,  but,  like  the  nobility,  exercised 
judicial  powers  in  their  baronial  courts.  The  number  of  three  nobles 
for  each  county  was  to  remain  unalterable  ;  after  the  current  century 
no  transfer  of  lands  could  take  place.  Each  county  being  divided 
into  twenty- four  parts,  called  colonies,  were  to  be  cultivated  by  a 
race  of  hereditary  leetmen,  or  tenants,  attached  to  the  soil,  each 
holding  ten  acres  of  land  at  a  fixed  rent ;  these  tenants  not  being 
possessed  of  any  political  franchise,  but  being  "  adscripts  of  the  soil 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  their  lord,  without  any  appeal ;  "  and  it  was 
added  that  "  all  the  children  of  leetmen  shall  be  leetmen,  and  so  to 
all  generations." 

The  political  rights  of  the  great  body  of  the  people  being  thus 
disposed  of,  and  a  legislative  barrier  placed,  as  it  were,  against  pro- 
gressive popular  improvement  and  enlightenment,  a  very  complicated 
system  of  government  was  framed  for  the  benefit  of  the  privileged 
classes.  "  Besides  the  Court  of  Proprietors,  invested  with  supreme 
executive  authority,  the  president  of  which  was  the  oldest  proprietor, 

VOL.  I.  10 


218  HISTORY    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES. 

with  the  title  of  Palatine,  there  were  seven  other  courts,  presided 
over  by  the  remaining  seven  proprietors,  with  the  tides  respectively 
of  Admiral,  Chamberlain,  Chancellor,  Chief  Justice,  High  Steward, 
and  Treasurer ;  besides  the  president,  each  of  these  courts  had  six 
councillors  appointed  for  life,  two-thirds,  at  least,  of  whom  must  be 
nobles."  There  is  something  almost  childish  and  ludicrous  in  the 
business  of  some  of  these  supreme  and  pompous  dignitaries  of 
an  infant  settlement,  the  inhabitants  of  which  lived  in  log-cabins 
scattered  through  the  wilderness.  The  Court  of  the  Admiral  had 
cognisance  of  shipping  and  trade ;  the  Chamberlain's,  of  pedigrees, 
festivals,  sports,  and  ceremonies  ;  the  Chancellor's,  of  state  affairs 
and  license  of  printing  ;  the  Constable's,  of  war  ;  the  Chief  Justice's, 
of  ordinary  judicial  questions  ;  the  High  Steward's,  of  public  works  ; 
the  Treasurer's,  of  finance. 

"All  these  courts  united,"  says  the  excellent  historian  Hildreth, 
"were  to  compose  a  grand  council  .of  fifty  members,  in  whom  was 
vested  exclusively  the  right  of  proposing  laws,  which  required,  how- 
ever, the  approval  of  a  parliament  of  four  estates,  proprietors, 
landgraves,  caciques,  and  commoners,  to  render  them  valid. 

"  The  four  estates  composing  the  parliament  were  to  sit  in  one 
chamber,  each  landgrave  and  cacique  being  entitled  to  a  seat,  but 
the  proprietors,  if  they  chose,  to  sit  by  deputy.  Four  commoners 
for  each  county  were  the  representatives  of  the  commons  ;  the  pos- 
session of  five  hundred  acres  being,  however,  requisite  to  qualify  for 
a  seat,  and  fifty  acres  of  land  to  give  an  elective  vote.  The  pro- 
prietaries in  their  separate  courts  had  a  veto  on  all  acts." 

The  people  had  thus  no  share  whatever  in  the  executive,  judicial, 
or  legislative  authority. 

"The  four-and-twenty  colonies  of  each  county  were  divided  into  four 
precincts,  each  precinct  having  a  local  court,  whence  appeals  were  to  lie 
to  the  court  of  Chief  Justice.  Juries  were  to  decide  by  majority."  To 
plead  for  money  or  reward  in  any  court  was  denounced  as  "  base  and 
vile,"  an  enactment  little  in  accordance  with  the  interests  of  the  lawyer. 

"None  could  be  freemen  who  did  not  acknowledge  God  and  the 
obligation  of  public  worship.  The  Church  of  England — against  the 
wishes  of  Locke,  who  wished  to  put  all  sects  on  the  same  footing — was 
to  be  supported  by  the  state.  Any  .seven  freemen  might,  however, 


(1670.)  THE  GKAND  MODEL  CONSTITUTION.  219 

form  a  church  or  religious  society,  provided  its  members  admitted  the 
rightfulncss  of  oaths — which  clause  at  once  excluded  the  Quakers. 
By  another  provision,  every  freeman  of  Carolina,  of  whatsoever 
opinion  or  religion,  possessed  absolute  power  and  authority  over  his 
negro  slaves." 

This  "  Grand  Model  Constitution,"  which  was  extravagantly  praised 
in  England,  was  signed  in  March,  1670,  and  Monk,  Duke  of  Albe- 
marle,  as  the  oldest  of  the  proprietaries,  was  appointed  Palatine. 

Whilst  this  pompous  scheme  of  legislature  was  occupying  the 
wisest  heads  in  England,  three  vessels  conveyed  out  emigrants,  at  the 
expense  of  £12,000  to  the  proprietaries,  under  the  command  of 
William  Sayle,  who  established  themselves  on  the  old  site  of  Port 
Royal. 

The  grand  aristocratical  constitution  was  sent  over  in  due  form  to 
Carolina,  but  neither  was  it  found  more  suitable  at  Albemarle,  in  the 
north,  than  by  Sayle's  colony  in  the  south.  The  character  of  the 
people  of  Albemarle  rendered  its  introduction  impossible ;  "  those 
sturdy  dwellers  in  scattered  log  cabins  of  the  wilderness  could  not  be 
noblemen,  and  would  not  be  serfs."  This  unfortunate  constitution, 
which  made  John  Locke  a  landgrave,  and  the  noble  proprietaries  in 
succession  palatines,  led  to  a  long  and  fruitless  struggle  of  its  founders 
to  force  upon  the  settlers  a  form  of  government  incompatible  with 
their  circumstances,  and  from  which  they  had  nothing  to  gain,  but 
everything  to  lose.  The  contest  continued  for  three-and-twenty  years, 
when  the  Grand  Model,  baseless  as  a  fabric  of  mist,  was  formally 
abrogated. 

About  the  time  when  the  new  constitution  was  first  exciting  the 
derision  and  abhorrence  of  the  sturdy  Nonconformists  of  Aibemarle, 
distinguished  ministers  among  the  Quakers  travelled  from  Virginia 
into  North  Carolina,  and  were  received  "tenderly"  by  a  people 
naturally  religious,  but  among  whom,  at  that  time,  was  no  minister 
of  Christ.  Unlike  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts,  they  warmly 
welcomed  these  later  apostles  of  religious  and  civil  liberty;  and 
whilst  they  sturdily  rejected  a  form  of  government  which  was  at 
variance  with  all  their  principles  of  social  and  political  life,  received 
gladly  "  the  authority  of  truth,"  and  so  the  "  Society  of  Friends * 


220  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

were  the  first  to  organise  a  religious  government  in  this  portion  of 
America. 

In  the  autumn  of  1672,  George  Fox  himself  visited  Carolina, 
travelling  across  "the  great  "bogs"  of  the  Dismal  Swamp,  "commonly, 
as  he  relates,  wet  to  the  knees,  and  lying  abroad  at  nights  in  the 
woods  by  a  fire,  until  reaching  a  house  where  the  woman  had  the 
sense  of  God  upon  her,  he  was  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  a  mat  to  lie 
upon  by  the  fireside." 

Carolina,  like  Rhode  Island,  was  a  place  of  refuge  for  schismatics  of 
all  kinds,  who  now  "  lived  lonely  in  the  woods,  with  great  dogs  to 
guard  their  houses ;"  men  and  women  of  thoughtful  minds  "  open  to 
the  conviction  of  truth,"  and  who  received  the  preachings  and  teach- 
ings of  George  Fox  and  his  brethren  with  great  joy;  and  not  only 
they  of  the  poorer  sort,  but  the  richer  and  more  influential  inhabitants 
of  the  province,  heard  him  gladly  and  received  him  as  an  honoured 
guest  to  their  houses. 

The  plantations  of  that  day,  we  are  told,  lay  along  the  bay  and  the 
rivers  that  flow  into  it,  and  these  and  the  inlets  were  the  highways  of 
Carolina;  therefore  we  find  George  Fox  and  his  friends  taken,  on  one 
occasion,  in  a  boat  lent  them  by  a  kind-hearted  man,  a  captain  of  the 
country,  to  the  house  of  the  governor,  who,  with  his  wife,  received 
them  very  lovingly,  and  the  next  morning  accompanied  thorn  courte- 
ously two  miles  through  the  woods  to  the  water's  edge,  and  so  on  to 
the  house  of  Joseph  Scot,  one  of  the  representatives  of  the  county, 
where  they  had  "a  sound  and  precious  meeting,  and  the  people  were 
very  tender."  Again,  he  was  at  the  house  of  the  secretary,  to  arrive 
at  which,  however,  they  had  "  much  ado,  for  the  water  was  shallow 
and  the  boat  could  not  come  ashore,  but  the  secretary's  wife,  he  being 
from  home,  seeing  their  strait,  put  out  in  her  little  canoe  and  brought 
them  to  land."  These  little  touches  of  life  and  character  are  worth 
pages  of  laboured  description ;  they  show  the  spirit  of  the  people ; 
they  show  the  joy  with  which  Fox  and  his  friends  were  welcomed, 
\vhen  the  wife  of  the  chief  secretary  herself  paddled  her  little  canoe 
to  bring  them  safely  on  shore.  It  is  a  genuine  picture  of  simple 
primeval  life.  And  not  alone  did  George  Fox  preach  to  the  white 
settlers  of  "  the  light  of  the  Spirit  of  God  which  is  in  every  one,"  but 


(1G77.)      DISSATISFACTION  WITH   THE   ENGLISH   GOVERNMENT.  221 

to  the  natives  of  tlie  wilderness  also,  who  approved  of  what  he  said, 
and  "received  the  truth  lovingly;  the  Indian  priests  themselves 
sitting  soberly  among  the  people  listening  to  the  words  that  were 
spoken." 

Willing  disciples  of  George  Fox,  as  the  people  of  North  Carolina 
proved  themselves  to  be,  were  sure  to  protest  against  and  oppose  a 
constitution  like  that  of  Shaftesbury  and  Locke.  The  introduction  of 
it  was  not  only  difficult,  but  was  soon  rendered  impossible,  by  the 
accession  of  dissenters  from  England,  and  so-called  "runaways,  rogues, 
and  rebels"  from  Virginia,  who,  on  the  suppression  of  an  insurrection 
there,  of  which  we  shall  speak  anon,  fled  daily  to  Carolina  as  their 
common  place  of  refuge.  Another  cause  of  dissatisfaction  with  the 
English  government,  and  of  constant  irritation,  was  the  enforcement 
of  the  Navigation  Laws.  The  population  of  the  whole  state  as  yet,  in 
1677,  amounted  to  little  more  than  4,000  ;  "  a  few  fat  cattle,  a  little 
maize,  and  800  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  formed  all  their  exports,"  and 
the  few  foreign  articles  which  they  required  were  brought  to  them  by 
the  traders  of  Boston.  Yet,  small  as  this  traffic  was,  it  was  envied  by 
the  English  merchants;  the  Navigation  Law  was  ordered  to  be 
strictly  enforced,  the  New  England  trader  was  driven  from  their 
harbour  by  unreasonable  duties,  and  the  Carolinians  themselves  had 
no  other  free  market  for  their  few  exports  than  England.  Miller,  a 
man  who  had  already  become  extremely  unpopular,  returned  from  Eng- 
land to  Carolina,  as  chief  magistrate  and  collector  of  the  royal  customs, 
empowered  to  levy  one  penny  on  every  pound  weight  of  tobacco 
exported  to  New  England.  But  spite  of  this,  and  spite  of  attempts 
to  excite  ill-feeling  between  the  two  colonies,  Carolina  continued  to 
trade  with  Boston,  and  the  traffic  grew  in  defiance  of  imposts,  which 
only  served  to  render  both  colonies  more  determined  and  more  averse 
to  the  parent  state. 

The  attempts  at  enforcing  the  Navigation  Laws  hastened  an  insur- 
rection, which  was  fostered  by  the  refugees  from  Virginia  and  the 
men  of  New  England,  and  which  justified  itself  by  the  publication  of 
the  first  American  manifesto.  The  three-fold  grievances  of  the  colony 
were  stated  herein  to  be — excessive  taxation;  the  abridgment  of 
political  liberty  by  the  altered  form  of  government,  with  the  denial 
of  a  free  election  of  an  assembly;  and  the  unwise  interruptino  of  the 


222  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

natural  channels  of  commerce.  The  head  of  this  insurrection  was 
John  Culpepper,  a  man  stigmatised  by  the  English  party  as  one 
"who  deserved  hanging,  for  endeavouring  to  set  the  poor  to  plunder 
the  rich."  The  whole  hody  of  the  settlers  was  insurgent ;  Miller, 
the  chief  object  of  their  hatred,  and  seven  proprietary  deputies, 
were  arrested  and  imprisoned,  courts  of  justice  established  and  a 
parliament  called.  "With  a  popular  government,  anarchy  was  at  an 
end ;  though,  when  the  new  governor  Eastchurch  arrived,  none  would 
acknowledge  his  authority.  The  following  year,  Culpepper  and 
another  were  sent  to '  England,  to  negotiate  a  compromise  with  the 
proprietaries  and  to  obtain  the  recal  of  Miller. 

Miller,  however,  and  his  companions  having  escaped  from  prison, 
met  the  deputies  in  England,  and  as  the  supporters  of  the  Navigation 
Laws  were  sustained  by  a  powerful  interest  there,  Culpepper 
when  about  to  embark  for  America  was  arrested  in  his  turn  on  the 
charge  of  interrupting  the  collection  of  duties  and  their  embezzle- 
ment. He  demanded  his  trial  in  Carolina,  where  the  act  was  com- 
mitted. "  Let  no  favour  be  shown,"  cried  the  adverse  party ;  and  he 
was  brought  to  trial.  Shaftesbury,  however,  then  in  the  zenith  of 
his  popularity,  appeared  on  his  behalf,  declaring,  "  that  there  never 
had  been  a  regular  government  in  Albermarle ;  that  its  disorders 
were  only  feuds  among  the  planters,  which  could  not  amount  to 
treason," — and  he  was  acquitted. 

On  the  acquittal  of  Culpepper,  the  proprietaries  found  themselves 
in  a  difficult  position.  After  looking  at  the  question  in  every  point 
of  view,  excepting  that  which  was  simple  and  straightforward, 
"  they  resolved,"  says  Chalmers,  in  his  "  Political  Annals  of  Carolina." 
"  to  govern  in  future  according  to  that  portion  of  obedience  which 
the  insurgents  should  be  disposed  to  yield."  The  wise  exclaiming,  ir. 
the  language  of  prediction,  that  a  government  actuated  by  such 
principles  cannot  possibly  be  of  long  continuance 

Means  were  now  employed  to  heal  former  disorders;  and  upon 
members  of  the  insurgent  party  high  offices  in  the  state  were  conferred. 
The  proprietaries  bade  them  "  settle  order  among  themselves,"  and 
they  did  so,  by  establishing  "  a  wise  moderation  in  government," 
though  some  charge,  it  is  true,  stands  against  them,  of  a  persecuting 
spirit  towards  their  political  opponents. 


(1688.)    SETH  SOTHEL  AND  HIS  INFAMOUS  PROCEEDINGS.       223 

Mild  as  had  appeared  the  temper  of  the  proprietaries,  it  seemed, 
however,  as  if  they  had  determined  severely  to  punish  the  offending 
colony,  when  in  1683  they  sent  over  Seth  Sothel  as  governor. 
Sothel,  like  Cranfield  in  New  Hampshire,  was  an  adventurer,  whose 
aim  being  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  he  had  no  conscience  as  to  the 
means  by  which  it  was  acquired.  He  appears,  by  the  report  of  all 
parties,  to  have  been  of  that  scoundrel  class  by  which  human  nature 
is  degraded.  He  was  himself  one  of  the  eight  proprietaries,  and  he 
accepted  office  merely  for  sordid  purposes.  "  The  annals  of  delegated 
authority,"  says  Chalmers,  "  have  not  recorded  a  name  so  deserving 
of  infamy  as  that  of  Sothel.  Bribery,  extortion,  injustice,  rapacity, 
with  breach  of  trust  and  disobedience  of  orders,  are  the  crimes  of  which 
he  was  accused  during  the  five  years  that  he  misruled  this  unhappy 
colony.  Driven  almost  to  despair,  the  inhabitants  at  length  seized 
his  person,  in  1688,  in  order  to  send  him  to  England  to  answer  their 
complaints."  On  his  entreaties,  however,  with  a  moderation  which 
is  highly  creditable  to  their  Christian  power  of  forbearance,  he  was 
permitted  to  meet  their  accusations  at  the  next  assembly.  Sothel 
fled,  fearing  less  to  face  the  men  whom  he  had  injured,  than  they 
whose  interests  he  had  betrayed.  The  assembly  gave  judgment 
against  him  in  all  the  above  particulars,  and  compelled  him  to  abjure 
the  country  for  twelve  months  and  the  government  for  ever.  The 
proprietaries,  though  they  heard  with  indignation  of  the  suffer- 
ings which  Sothel  had  inflicted  on  the  colony,  were  yet  displeased 
that  the  colony  through  its  assembly  had  assumed  supreme  power, 
which  act  was  regarded  as  "  prejudicial  to  the  prerogative  of  the 
crown,  and  to  the  honour  of  the  proprietaries." 

Well,  however,  was  it  for  North  Carolina  that  she  thus  took 
the  law  into  her  own  hands  ;  tranquillity  was  restored.  Mighty 
changes  were  in  the  meantime  taking  place  in  England ;  the  Revo- 
lution of  1688  was  overturning  not  only  political  parties,  but 
the  very  constitution  itself.  But  neither  the  strife  of  par- 
ties; nor  the  removal  of  the  crown  from  one  royal  head  to 
another,  mattered  in  North  Carolina ;  where,  at  length,  peace  and 
prosperity  were  established.  "The  settlers  of  North  Carolina," 
we  are  told,  "  began  now  to  enjoy  to  their  hearts'  content 
liberty  of  conscience  and  personal  independence,  the  freedom 


224  HISTOBY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  forest  and  the  river.  The  country  of  itself  was  of  the  most 
agreeable  character.  From  almost  every  plantation  they  enjoyed 
the  noble  prospect  of  spacious  rivers,  of  pleasant  meadows,  of  primeval 
forests,  where  the  loftiest  branches  of  the  tulip-tree  or  magnolia 
were  wreathed  with  jessamines  and  honeysuckles.  For  them  the  wild 
bee  stored  its  honey  in  hollow  trees ;  for  them,  unnumbered  swine 
fattened  on  the  fruits  of  the  forest,  or  the  heaps  of  peaches;  for 
them,  spite  of  their  careless  lives  and  imperfect  husbandry,  cattle 
multiplied  on  the  pleasant  savannahs ;  and  they  desired  no  greater 
happiness  than  they  enjoyed.  North  Carolina  was  settled  by  the 
freest  of  the  free ;  they  were  not  so  much  caged  in  the  woods  as 
scattered  in  lonely  granges.  There  was  neither  city  nor  township ; 
there  was  hardly  even  a  hamlet,  or  one  house  within  sight  of  another ; 
nor  were  there  roads,  except  as  the  paths  from  house  to  house  were 
distinguished  by  notches  on  the  trees.  The  settlers  were  gentle  in 
their  tempers,  of  serene  minds,  enemies  to  violence  and  bloodshed. 
Not  all  the  successive  revolutions  had  kindled  vindictive  feelings ; 
the  charities  of  life  were  scattered  at  their  feet  like  the  flowers  on 
their  meadows  ;  and  the  spirit  of  humanity  maintained  its  influence 
in  the  Arcadia,  as  royalist  writers  will  have  it,  of  rogues  and  rebels  in 
the  paradise  of  Quakers."  * 

We  have  already  related  how,  in  1670,  the  year  in  which  the 
Grand  Model  Constitution  was  signed,  a  company  of  emigrants 
were  sent  out,  at  the  expense  of  £12,000  to  the  proprietaries,  under 
the  command  of  William  Sayle,  a  military  officer  and  Presbyterian, 
who,  twenty  years  before,  had  'attempted  to  plant  a  colony  in  the 
Bahama  Isles,  under  the  somewhat  unintelligible  title  of  an  Eleutheria, 
and  who,  mere  latterly,  had  been  employed  by  the  proprietaries  in 
exploring  the  coasts  of  their  province.  These  emigrants  were  accom- 
panied by  Joseph  West,  as  commercial  agent  of  the  proprietaries, 
authorised  to  supply  the  settlers  with  provisions,  cattle,  implements 
and  all  other  necessaries ;  a  trade  being  commenced  for  this  purpose 
with  Virginia,  Bermuda  and  Barbadoes. 

The  vessels  containing  the  infant  colony,  which  was  intended  to  be 
constituted  according  to  the  Grand  Model,  entered  the,  harbour  of 

«  Bancroft. 


(1671.)  CARTERET  COUNTY— CHARLESTON1.  225 

Port  Royal,  on  the  shores  of  which,  a  century  before,  the  Huguenots 
had  erected  their  fort — the  early  Carolina — and  of  which  even  yet, 
some  traces  remained.  The  country  around  Port  Royal,  like  that 
occupied  by  the  early  New  England  settlers,  was  in  a  great  measure 
depopulated  of  natives,  partly  by  an  epidemic,  and  partly  by 
sanguinary  wars  among  themselves  ;  therefore  but  little  apprehension 
was  entertained  from  this  quarter  5  besides  which,  the  good-will  of 
the  neighbouring  tribes  was  secured  by  presents.  Each  settler  was 
to  receive  150  acres  of  land,  and  the  district  thus  taken  possession 
of  was  called  Carteret  County. 

It  was  soon  discovered,  as  was  to  be  expected,  that  the  Grand 
Model  was  far  too  complex  a  system  of  government  even  for  this 
settlement  sent  out  by  the  proprietaries  themselves ;  "  yet,  desiring 
to  come  as  nigh  to  it  as  possible,"  says  Chalmers,  "  five  persons  were 
immediately  elected  by  the  freeholders,  and  five  others  chosen  by  the 
proprietaries,  who  were  to  form  a  grand  council,  and  these,  with  the 
governor  and  twenty  delegates  elected  by  the  people,  composed  a 
parliament  which  was  invested  with  legislative  power.  Such  was 
the  government  which  South  Carolina  chose  for  herself,  coming  as 
nigh  to  the  prescribed  rules  laid  down  for  her  as  she  saw  convenient 
and  fitting.  * 

Scarcely  had  Sayle  thus  far  fulfilled  his  office,  when  he  fell  a  victim 
to  the  effects  of  the  climate,  and  died.  Sir  John  Yeamans  succeeded 
him,  and  Clarendon  county,  in  consequence,  was  annexed  to  Carteret. 
The  same  year,  1671,  the  settlement  removed  from  Port  Royal  to  the 
banks  of  the  Ashley  River,  "  for  the  convenience  of  pasturage  and 
tillage,"  and  upon  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  then  called  Oyster  Point, 
between  that  river  and  the  Cooper — both  thus  called  in  honour  of 
Shaftesbury — the  foundation  of  CHARLESTON,  destined  to  be  the 
capital  of  the  Southern  States,  was  laid  by  the  settlement  there  of  a 
few  graziers'  cabins.  The  situation  thus  chosen,  though  full  of 
natural  beauty — the  primeval  forest,  as  we  are  told,  sweeping  down 
to  the  river's  edge,  laden  with  yellow  jessamine,  the  perfume  of  which 
filled  the  air — was  not  'salubrious.  The  place  for  many  years  indeed 
was  considered  so  unhealthy  during  the  hot  months  of  the  year,  that 
people  fled  from  it  at  that  time  as  from  the  pestilence.  But  the  clear- 
ing away  of  the  woods,  probably,  and  the  draining  of  the  soil,  so  far 

10* 


226  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

altered  its  character  in  this  respect,  that  it  is  now  rather  singularly 
healthy  than  otherwise. 

Spite  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  settlement  as  regarded  the  Grand 
Model,  Governor  Yeamans  was  created  landgrave,  and  Albemarle 
being  dead,  Lord  Berkeley  had  become  palatine.  Yeamans  introduced 
negro  slavery,  bringing  with  him  a  cargo  of  slaves  from  Barbadoes. 
The  heat  of  the  climate  rendered  labour  difficult  to  the  whites,  and  from 
its  first  settlement,  South  Carolina  was  a  slave  state  ;  besides  which, 
these  settlers  seem  to  have  been  somewhat  an  improvident  and  shift- 
less set  of  people,  deriving  their  supplies  for  several  years  from  the 
proprietaries,  for  which,  though  obtained  as  purchases,  they  appear 
never  to  have  paid ;  complaining  bitterly  when  the  proprietaries, 
objecting  naturally  enough  to  supply  them  on  these  terms,  declared 
that  "  they  would  no  longer  continue  to  feed  and  to  clothe  them." 
To  such  men  it  would  soon  become  an  object  to  possess  negro  slaves, 
without  which,  it  was  early  said,  "  a  planter  can  never  do  any  great 
matter."  The  climate  of  South  Carolina  was  not  only  congenial  to 
the  negro,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  the  temper  of  the  people  made 
them  willingly  avail  themselves  of  slave  labour,  and  very  soon  the 
slave  population  far  outnumbered  the  whites. 

The  management  of  Sir  John,  or  Landgrave  Yeamans  not  being 
by  any  means  satisfactory  to  the  proprietaries,  nor  yet  to  the  colony, 
he  was  recalled  in  1674,  and  Joseph  West,  whose  conduct  had  been 
perfectly  so  to  all  parties,  was  appointed  governor  and  created 
landgrave,  and  to  him  the  proprietaries  made  over  as  salary  their 
outstanding  claims  against  the  colony — the  surest  means  of  trying  his 
popularity.  Nevertheless,  we  find,  at  the  end  often  years,  that  "he 
received  the  whole  product  of  his  traffic,  as  the  reward  of  his  services, 
without  any  impeachment  of  his  morals." 

The  proprietaries,  seeing  the  character  of  the  emigrants  they  had 
sent  over,  encouraged  settlers  from  the  New  England  and  the  north- 
ern colonies ;  and  with  a  desire  to  promote  the  advantage  of  the 
industrious,  sent  over  further  supplies,  informing  the  colony,  how- 
ever, that  they  must  be  paid,  being  determined  "  to  make  no  more 
desperate  debts." 

The  fame  of  the  beautiful  land  of  South  Carolina,  "the  region 
where  every  month  had  its  succession  of  flowers,"  soon  led  to  the 


(1674.)  INFLUX   OF   EMIGRANTS   INTO   SOUTH   CAROLINA.  227 

attempt  to  introduce  and  cultivate  the  olive,  the  orange,  the  mulberry 
for  the  production  of  the  silk-worm,  and  vines  for  the  production  of 
wine.     Charles  II.  himself  sent  over  to  the  colony  two  small  vessels 
with  these  plants,  and  Protestants  from  the  South  of  France  for  their 
cultivation ;   he  also  exempted  the  province  from  the  payment  of 
duties  on  these  commodities  for  a  limited  time,  which  caused  dis- 
satisfaction  at  home,  and  the  remonstrance  against  "  encouraging 
people    to    remove   to    the   plantations,    as    too   many   go    thither 
already  to  the  unpeopling  and  ruin  of  the  kingdom."    Emigrants 
continued  to  come  over  from  England,  and  these  of  various  classes, 
not  only  impoverished  cavaliers  and  discontented  churchmen,  but 
the  soundest  element   for  colonisation-,  sturdy  dissenters,  to   whom 
their  native  land  no  longer  afforded  a  secure  abode.     Among  other 
companies  of  emigrants,  were  a  considerable  number  from  Somerset- 
shire, who  accompanied  Joseph  Blake,  the  brother  of  the  celebrated 
admiral,  now  dead.     Blake  was  himself  no  longer  young,  but  unable 
to  endure  the  present  oppressions  of  England,  and  dreading  still 
worse  from  a  popish  successor  to  the  crown,  devoted  the  whole  of  the 
vast  fortune  he  had  inherited  from  his  brother  to  the  purposes  of 
emigration.    A  colony  of  Irish  went  over,  under  Ferguson,  and  soon 
amalgamated  with  the  population.    Lord  Cardross  also  took  over  a 
company  of  brave  Scotch  exiles,  who  had  suffered  grievously  at  home 
for  their  religion — men  who  had  been  thumb-screwed  and  tortured  for 
conscience-sake,  but  they,  having  established  themselves  at  Port 
Royal,  fell  victims  to  the  animosity  of  the  Spaniards,  who  claimed 
that  portion  of  the  district  as  appertaining  to  St.  Augustine,  and 
consequently  destroyed  their  settlement.     Many  returned  to  Scot- 
land ;  the  rest,  like  the  Irish,  became  blended  with  the  original 
colonists. 

From  France  also  came  great  numbers  of  the  best  and  noblest  of 
her  people,  men  and  women  of  whom  she  was  not  worthy,  forced 
from  their  country  by  the  severity  of  laws  which  placed  truth, 
sincerity  and  uprightness  before  God  and  man,  on  a  par  with  treason 
and  murder.  Louis  XIV.,  an  old  debauchee,  sought  to  atone  for  a 
life  of  profligacy  by  converting  the  Huguenots  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
even  at  the  point  of  the  sword ;  their  native  land  was  made  intoler- 
able to  them,  and  they  sought  for  peace  by  flight  and  voluntary  exile. 


228  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

But  flight  and  exile  were  no  longer  permitted  to  them  ;  to  leave  their 
native  land  was  made  felony.  Tyranny  however,  is  powerless 
against  the  human  will  based  on  the  rights  of  conscience  ;  and  spite 
of  the  prohibitions  of  law,  the  persecuted  Calvinists  fled  in  thou- 
sands to  that  happy  land  beyond  the  Atlantic,  the  noblest  privilege 
of  which  has  ever  been,  that  it  furnished  a  safe  asylum  to  the  true- 
hearted  and  the  conscientious  of  every  European  land,  and  where 
men  might  worship  their  Maker  according  to  the  dictates  of  their 
own  souls.  These  refugees  were  warmly  welcomed  to  New  England 
and  New  York,  but  the  mild  congenial  climate  of  South  Carolina  was 
more  attractive  to  the  exiles  of  France. 

At  the  risk  of  prolonging  somewhat  this  portion  of  our  history,  we 
must  be  permitted  to  give  an  extract  from  the  narrative  of  Judith 
Manigault,  the  young  wife  of  one  of  the  exiles.  It  was  felony,  it  must 
be  remembered,  to  leave  their  native  land ;  therefore,  says  she,  "  we 
quitted  home  by  night,  leaving  the  soldiers  in  their  beds,  and  abandon- 
ing the  house  with  its  furniture.  "VVe  contrived  to  hide  ourselves  for 
ten  days  at  Romans,  in  Dauphiny,  while  a  search  was  made  for  us,  but 
our  faithful  hostess  would  not  betray  us."  They  reached  the  shore  by 
a  circuitous  journey  through  Germany  and  Holland,  and  thence  to 
England,  in  the  depth  of  winter.  "  Embarking  at  London,"  says  the 
narrative,  "  we  were  sadly  off.  The  spotted  fever  appeared  on  board 
the  vessel,  and  many  died  of  the  disease,  among  the  rest  our  aged 
mother.  We  touched  at  Bermuda,  where  the  vessel  was  seized. 
Our  money  was  all  spent;  with  great  difficulty  we  procured  a 
passage  in  another  vessel.  After  our  arrival  in  Carolina,  we  suffered 
every  kind  of  evil.  In  eighteen  months  our  eldest  brother,  unaccus- 
tomed to  the  hard  labour  which  we  were  obliged  to  undergo,  died  of 
a  fever.  Since  leaving  France  we  have  experienced  every  kind  of 
affliction — disease,  pestilence,  famine,  poverty,  hard  labour — and  have 
been  six  months  without  tasting  bread,  working  the  ground  like  slaves ; 
indeed,  I  myself  have  passed  three  or  four  years  without  having  it 
when  I  wanted  it.  "  Yet,"  adds  she,  in  a  noble  spirit  of  resignation, 
"  God  has  done  great  things  in  enabling  us  to  bear  up  under  so 
many  trials." 

This  family  of  Manigault  was  but  one  of  many  who  escaped  to 
Carolina,  and  all  had  the  same  sad  story,  or  even  worse,  to  veil. 


(1674.)  HUGENOT   COLONISATION.  229 

Hither  came  these  fugitives  from  the  most  beautiful  and  fertile 
regions  of  France,—"  men,"  says  Bancroft  eloquently,  "  who  had  all 
the  virtues  of  the  English  Puritans  without  their  bigotry,  to  the  land 
to  which  ihe  tolerant  benevolence  of  Shaftesbury  had  invited  the 
believers  of  every  creed.  From  a  land,  which  had  suffered  its  king 
to  drive  half  a  million  of  its  best  citizens  into  exile,  they  came  to  the 
land  which  was  the  hospitable  refuge  of  the  oppressed;  where 
superstition  and  fanaticism,  infidelity  and  faith,  cold  speculation  and 
animated  zeal,  were  alike  admitted  without  question."  In  this 
chosen  home  of  their  exile,  lands  were  assigned  to  them,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Cooper  River,  and  there  they  soon  established  their  homes. 
Their  church  was  in  Charleston,  -and  "thither,"  says  the  same 
historian,  who  so  keenly  feels  every  beautiful  trait  of  humanity,  "  on 
the  Lord's-day,  gathered  from  their  plantations  on  the  banks  of  the 
river,  and  taking  advantage  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  tide,  they  might 
regularly  be  seen,  parents  with  their  children,  whom  no  bigot  could, 
wrest  from  them,  making  their  way  along  the  river,  through  scenes 
so  tranquil  that  the  silence  wras  broken  only  by  the  rippling  of  the 
oars,  and  the  hum  of  the  flourishing  villages  that  gemmed  the  con- 
fluence of  the  rivers.  Other  Huguenot  emigrants  established  them- 
selves on  the  south  bank  of  the  Santee."  Thus  was  the  original 
scheme  of  the  Huguenot  colonisation  on  this  very  soil,  as  enter- 
tained by  Coligny,  at  length  accomplished,  although  a  century  later. 

Liberal  as  was  the  Grand  Model  constitution  as  regarded  religious 
toleration,  the  spirit  of  the  settlers  was  not  equal  to  it  in  this  respect. 
The  Huguenot  colonists  were  not  cordially  received  by  them ;  perse- 
cution was  impossible,  but  hospitality  was  withheld ;  and  though  they 
formed  the  most  industrious,  useful  and  sterling  portion  of  the  popu- 
lation, it  was  many  years  before  they  were  allowed  the  rights  of  fellow- 
citizenship.  As  a  striking  instance  out  of  many  showing  the  noble 
character  of  these  emigrants,  we  may  mention  that,  "  when  the  great 
struggle  for  American  independence  took  place,  the  son  of  this  Judith 
Manigault  intrusted  the  large  fortune  he  had  then  acquired  to  the 
service  of  the  country  which  had  received  his  exiled  family." 

The  province  of  South  Carolina  was  divided,  in  1683,  into  three  coun- 
ties :  Colleton,  including  the  district  around  Port  Royal ;  Berkeley, 
embracing  Charleston  and  its  vicinity;  and  Craven;  the  district 


230  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

formerly  Clarendon,  towards  Cape  Fear,  the  earliest  settlement  of  the 
whole.  But  Berkeley  only  as  yet  was  sufficiently  populous  to  afford 
a  county-court. 

West,  who  governed  to  the  contentment  of  the  settlers,  failed  to 
give  satisfaction  to  the  proprietaries,  and  was  superseded,  in  1683,  by 
Moreton,  a  relative  of  Blake,  and  who  was  also  created  landgrave ; 
the  next  year,  however,  West  was  re-elected  ;  a  new  governor  was 
then  sent  from  England,  but  he  died,  and  West  remained  in  office  ;  a 
second  governor  came  over,  but  he  was  soon  deposed  by  the  proprie- 
taries, in  consequence  of  favouring  the  buccaneers,  and  Moreton  again 
resumed  office.  In  six  years  the  head  of  the  government  was  changed 
five  times. 

The  relationship  between  the  colonists  and  the  proprietaries 
increased  in  difficulty  every  succeeding  year.  There  was  little  that 
was  straightforward  on  either  side,  and  where  either  apparently 
-wished  to  do  right,  they  were  counteracted  by  the  other.  For  instance, 
the  proprietaries  opposed  and  remonstrated  against  the  practice  of 
the  settlers,  to  carry  on  partisan  war  with  the  neighbouring  Indians 
for  the  purpose  of  kidnapping  and  selling  them  as  slaves  in  the  West 
Indies;  but  the  settlers  persisted  in  it;  nay,  even  Governor  West 
himself  was  accused  of  connivance  at  this  barbarous  practice*  The 
payment  of  debts  which  had  been  contracted  out  of  the  province  could 
not  be  enforced ;  nor  would  the  more  populous  districts  of  Charleston, 
where  the  members  of  assembly  were  elected,  allow  to  the  other 
provinces  the  same-  privilege,  when  population  extended,  which  they 
themselves  enjoyed.  There  was  a  lamentable  want  of  high  moral 
principle  among  these  earlier  settlers  of  South  Carolina. 

Another  serious  charge  against  them  is,  the  favour  which  they 
showed  to  the  buccaneers.  "  These  remarkable  freebooters,"  says 
Hildreth,  "  a  mixture  of  French,  English  and  Dutch,  consisted  origi- 
nally of  adventurers  in  the  West  India  seas,  whose  establishments 
the  Spaniards  had  broken  up.  Some  fifty  or  sixty  years  before, 
contemporaneously  with  the  English  and  French  settlements  on 
the  Caribbee  Islands,  they  had  commenced  as  occasional  cruisers 
on  a  small  scale  against  the  Spaniards,  in  the  intervals  of  the 
planting  season.  During  the  long  war  between  France  and  Spain, 
from  1635  to  1660,  they  had  obtained  commissions  to  cruise  against 


(1G80.)   THE  BUCCANEERS  FAVOURED  IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA.      231 

Spanish  commerce,  principally  from  the  governors  of  the  French 
West  India  Islands.  Almost  anything,  indeed,  in  the  shape  of  a 
commission  was  enough  to  serve  their  purpose.  As  an  offset  to  that 
Spanish  arrogance  which  had  claimed  to  exclude  all  other  nations 
from  these  West  Indian  seas,  the  Spanish  commerce  in  those  seas  was 
regarded  by  all  other  *  nations  as  fair  plunder.  The  means  and 
number  of  the  buccaneers  gradually  increased.  The  unquiet  spirits  of 
all  countries  resorted  to  them.  Issuing  from  their  strongholds,  the 
island  of  Tortugo,  on  the  west  coast  of  St.  Domingo,  and  Port  Royal 
in  Jamaica,  they  committed  such  audacious  and  successful  robberies 
on  the  Spanish  American  cities,  as  to  win  almost  the  honours  of  legiti- 
mate heroes.  They  were  countenanced  for  a  time  by  France  and 
England ;  one  of  their  leaders  was  appointed  governor  of  Jamaica,  and 
another  was  knighted  by  Charles  II." 

Charles,  spite  of  the  favour  he  had  shown  to  the  buccaneer  chief, 
was  compelled  however,  by  treaties  with  his  allies  and  by  the  com- 
plaints of  his  own  subjects,  whose  commerce  was  injured  by  these 
illegal  traders,  to  use  his  most  strenuous  endeavours  to  put  an  end  to 
them  ;  and  his  successor  was  even  still  more  in  earnest.  In  1684,  a 
law  was  passed  against  pirates,  which  was  confirmed  by  the  proprie- 
taries of  South  Carolina,  and  their  commands  issued,  that  it  should  be 
rigorously  enforced  within  their  jurisdiction.  But  this  was  not  an 
easy  matter.  The  colonists  not  only  favoured  the  bold  buccaneer,  who 
brought  abundance  of  Spanish  gold  and  silver  into  their  country,  but 
they  were  irritated  against  the  Spaniards,  who,  justly  perhaps, 
incensed  by  the  English  encroachments  on  their  borders,  had  des- 
troyed the  Scotch  settlement  at  Port  Royal,  and  were  glad  of  any 
means  to  make  reprisals.  Little  attention  therefore  was  paid  by  the 
English  to  the  suppression  of  piracy.  "  The  pirates,"  says  Hewitt,  in 
his  history  of  South  Carolina,  "  had  already  by  their  money,  their 
gallant  manners,  and  their  freedom  of  intercourse  with  the  people,  so 
ingratiated  themselves  into  the  public  favour,  that  it  would  have  been 
no  easy  matter  to  bring  them  to  trial,  and  dangerous  even  to  have 
punished  them  as  they  deserved.  When  brought  to  trial,  the  courts 
of  law  became  scenes  of  altercation,  discord  and  confusion.  Bold  and 
seditious  speeches  were  made  from  the  bar  in  contempt  of  the  proprie- 
taries and  their  government.  Since  no  pardons  could  be  obtained, 


232  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

but  such  as  they  authorised  the  governor  to  grant,  the  assembly 
violently  proposed  a  bill  of  indemnity,  and  when  the  governor  refused 
his  assent  to  this  measure,  they  made  a  law  empowering  magistrates 
and  judges  to  put  in  force  the  habeas  corpus  act  of  England.     Hence 
it  happened  that  several  of  those  pirates  escaped,  purchased  lands  from 
the  colonists,  and  took  up  their  residence  in  the  country.     While 
money  flowed  into  the   colony  by  this   channel,   the   authority  of 
government  was  too  feeble  a  barrier  to  stem  the  tide  and  prevent 
such  illegal  practices."     The  very  proprietaries  themselves  at  length, 
to  gratify  the  people,  granted  an  indemnity  to  all  the  pirates,  except- 
ing in  one  case,  where  the  plunder  had  been  from  the  dominions  of 
the  Great  Mogul.     Very  justly  does  this  historian  remark,  "that  the 
gentleness  of  government  towards  these  public  robbers,  and  the  civility 
and  friendship  with  which  they  were  treated  by  the  people,  were 
evidences  of  the  licentious  spirit  which  prevailed  in  the  colony."    And 
not  only  an  evidence  of  this,  but  of  the  enmity  which  existed  towards 
the  Spaniards  ;  so  great  indeed  was  this  enmity,  that  but  for  the  ear- 
nest  remonstrances  of  the  proprietaries,   which  in  this  case    were 
regarded,  they  would  have  invaded  Florida  to  drive  the  Spaniards 
thence,  and  that  even  while  the  two  nations  were  at  peace. 

Affairs  became  still  more  and  more  difficult ;  and  in  1685,  James  II. 
meditated  a  revocation  of  the  charter  itself.  The  Palatine  Court, 
wishful  not  to  offend  the  king  at  this  critical  moment,  and  to  satisfy  the 
English  merchants  who  were  jealous  of  the  trade  of  South  Carolina, 
ordered  the  governor  and  council  to  use  their  diligence  in  collecting 
the  duty  on  tobacco  transported  to  other  colonies,  and  to  seize  all  ships 
that  presumed  to  trade  contrary  to  the  acts  of  navigation.  But  vain 
were  these  orders,  which  they  had  no  power  to  enforce.  The  colonists 
resisted  every  attempt  of  this  kind,  disregarding  the  dictates  of  the 
proprietaries,  and  holding  themselves  independent  almost  of  the 
English  monarch. 

At  a  loss  how  to  manage  in  these  perplexed  circumstances,  and 
imagining  that  the  fault  existed  in  the  governor  as  well  as  in  the 
people,  the  proprietaries  resolved  to  remedy  one  error  at  least,  by 
sending  out  James  Colleton,  brother  of  the  proprietary,  who,  to  sustain 
his  dignity  of  governor-landgrave,  should  be  endowed  with  48,000 
acres  of  land.  This  was  like  the  reasoning  of  the  founders  of  the 


(1689.)  DISTURBANCES — SETH  SOTHEL  RETURNS  TO  CHARLESTON.         233 

Grand  Model,  with  whom  "  the  aristocracy  was  the  rock  of  English 
principles,"  and  "  the  object  of  law  the  preservation  of  property." 
Coileton  arrived,  armed  with  all  .the  dignity  that  could  be  conferred 
upon  his  office,  intending  to  awe  the  people  into  submission  ;  and  his 
first  act  was  to  come  into  direct  collision  with  the  colonial  parliament. 
A  majority  of  the  members  refused  to  obey  the  Grand  Model  constitu- 
tion, and  these  men  were  excluded  by  him  from  the  house,  as 
"  sapping  the  very  foundations  of  government."  All  returned  to  their 
several  homes,  spreading  discontent  and  disaffection  wherever  they 
came.  A  new  parliament  was  called,  and  only  such  members  were 
elected  to  it  as  "  would  oppose  every  measure  of  the  governor."  He 
next  attempted  to  collect  the  quit-rents  due  to  the  proprietaries  ;  but 
here  again  direct  opposition  met  him :  the  people,  in  a  state  of  insur- 
lection,  seized  upon  the  public  records  and  imprisoned  the  secretary  of 
the  province.  Coileton  not  knowing  how  to  deal  with  such  refrac- 
tory elements,  pretended  danger  from  the  Indians  or  Spaniards ;  and 
calling  out  the  militia,  declared  the  province  under  martial  law.  A 
more  unwise  step  could  not  have  been  taken  :  for  men  of  their  temper 
were  just  as  likely  to  use  their  arms  against  a  ruler  whom  they  at 
once  despised  and  disliked,  as  against  the  general  enemy.  Any  further 
step  in  folly  was  saved  him.  The  English  Revolution  took  place  ;* 
William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed,  and,  as  if  in  imitation  of  the 
mother-co'.i  -try,  Coileton  was  impeached  by  the  assembly  and  banished 
the  province. 

Political  convulsions,  however,  were  not  wholly  at  an  end ;  for  in 
the  midst  of  the  ferment,  the  infamous  Seth  Sothel,  whom  we  have 
seen  banished  from  North  Carolina,  suddenly  made  his  appearance  in 
Charleston,  and  thinking,  probably,  that  this  was  a  people  kindred  to 
himself,  seized  the  reins  of  government,  and  for  some  little  time  found 
actually  a  faction  to  support  him.  But  he  was  too  bad  even  for  South 
Carolina.  After  two  years'  rule,  he  was  not  only  deposed  by  the 
people,  but  censured  severely  and  recalled  by  the  proprietaries,  who, 
though  he  was  still  a  member  of  their  own  body,  treated  him  as  "  a 
usurper  of  office." 

A  new  governor,  Philip  Ludwell,  was  appointed,  with  orders  to 
"  inquire  into  the  grievances  complained  of  and  to  inform  them  what 
was  best  to  be  done  ;"  and  in  this  respect  they  had  at  last  discovered 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

the  true  dignity  of  the  governor.  A  general  pardon  was  granted,  and 
in  April,  1693,  "the  Grand  Model  constitution"  was  abrogated,  the 
proprietaries  wisely  conceding,  "  that  as  the  people  have  declared  they 
would  rather  be  governed  by  the  powers  granted  by  the  charter, 
without  regard  to  the  fundamental  constitutions,  it  will  be  for  their 
quiet,  and  the  protection  of  the  well-disposed,  to  grant  their  request/ 
The  remark  of  Chalmers  is  just,  that  "  the  Carolinian  annals  show 
all  projectors  the  vanity  of  attempting  to  make  laws  for  a  people  whose 
voice,  proceeding  from  their  principles,  must  be  for  ever  the  supreme 
law  ;"  adding  further,  "  it  was  not  till  the  Carolinas,  North  and  South, 
were  blessed  with  a  simple  form  of  government,  that  they  began  to 
prosper ;  when  the  one  acquired  the  manufacture  of  naval  stores,  the 
other  the  production  of  rice  and  indigo,  which  have  made  both,  in 
modern  times,  populous,  wealthy  and  great. " 


(1660.)  EFFECTS   OF  THE   RESTORATION.   ON   VIRGINIA. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

VIRGINIA   UNDER   CHARLES  II. 

OF  all  the  American  colonies,  Virginia,  at  once  the  most  aristocratic 
and  the  most  loyal,  was  the  one  for  whom  the  Restoration  produced 
a  cup  of  unmixed  sorrow.  During  the  eight  years  of  the  Common- 
wealth, the  Virginians  had  governed  themselves  "  with  a  wise  mode- 
ration ;  "  peace  and  prosperity  had  prevailed  throughout  the  extent 
of  the  land ;  the  population  had  rapidly  increased,  and  the  present 
generation,  being  all  born-Virginians,  were  distinguished  by  their 
patriotism  and  pride  of  country. 

Sir  William  Berkeley  was  elected  governor  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  Virginia  two  months  before  the  Restoration,  and, 
acknowledging  himself  as  "  the  servant  of  the  assembly,"  he  accepted 
the  appointment  from  their  hands.  But  Virginia,  speaking  from  the 
heart  of  her  faithful  loyalist  settlers,  even  then  acknowledged  a 
secret  hope  of  a  restored  monarchy.  The  Restoration  took  place,  and 
Virginia,  like  England,  set  no  bounds  to-  the  expression  of  her  joy. 
An  address  was  sent  to  the  king,  "  praying  his  pardon  for  their 
having  yielded  to  a  power  they  were  unable  to  resist."  Forty-four 
thousand  pounds  of  tobacco  were  given  to  the  two  deputies  who  con- 
veyed the  address.  Charles  transmitted  a  royal  commission  to  "  his 
faithful  adherent,"  Berkeley  ;  and  Berkeley,  assuming  authority  under 
it,  issued  writs  for  the  election  of  a  new  assembly,  no  longer  as  gover- 
nor elected  by  the  people,  but  as  commissioner  under  the  king.  The 
loyal  enthusiasm  and  aristocratic  tendencies  of  the  people  elected  for 
this  new  assembly  only  landholders  and  cavaliers.  The  democratic 
power  of  Virginia  was  at  an  end.  Momentous  changes  had  already 
begun,  not  alone  in  her  constitution,  but  in  the  social  condition  of 


236  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

her  people.  Of  this  social  condition  a  few  words  must  be  allowed 
us. 

There  has  always  been  in  the  character  of  the  southern  states  ktp  an 
instinctive  aversion  to  too  much  government."  This  showed  itself 
early  in  Virginia  by  the  isolated  manner  in  which  the  country  was 
colonised.  Unlike  the  New  England  colonists,  the  spirit  of  whose 
life  was  organisation  and  government;  who,  naturally  forming 
themselves  into  communities,  established  towns  with  corporate 
authorities ;  who  regarded  religious  instruction  as  the  first  concern, 
and  secular  instruction  as  the  second;  who,  while  yet  small  as  a 
people,  branched  out  into  colonies,  and  impelled  by  the  spirit  of  com- 
mercial activity,  traded  to  all  parts  of  the  world ;  unlike  these  deter- 
mined, energetic,  and  expansive  settlers,  the  people  of  Virginia 
showed  from  the  first  an  aversion  to  congregate  in  towns,  or  to  engage 
in  commerce.  They  lived  on  their  plantations,  scattered  over  the 
colony,  like  the  estates  of  the  nobility  in  an  old  country,  and  were 
themselves  influenced  by  the  spirit  of  feudal  institutions. 

At  the  time  of  the  Restoration,  sixty  years  after  the  first  settle- 
ment, Virginia  comprehended  an  extent  of  country  about  half  the 
size  of  England,  with  a  population  of  about  40,000,  including  negro 
slaves  and  indented  servants.  It  was  divided  into  fifty  parishes  ;  the 
plantations  lay  dispersed  among  the  banks  of  rivers  and  creeks,  those 
on  the  James  River  extending  about  100  miles  into  the  interior. 
Each  parish  extended  many  miles  in  length  along  the  river's  side, 
but  in  breadth  ran  back  only  a  mile.  This  was  the  average  breadth. 
Many  parishes  were  destitute  of  churches,  or  any  means  of  reli- 
gious instruction;  in  fact,  not  more  than  ten  parishes  were  sup- 
plied with  ministers,  and  of  these  some  were  by  no  means  of  exem- 
plary character.  Religious  worship  was  held  but  once  a  day,  and 
such  families — and  these  were  by  far  the  greater  number — as  lived  at 
a  distance  from  the  church,  did  not  trouble  themselves  to  attend  at 
all.  Religion,  as  evidenced  by  outward  forms  of  worship,  was  by  no 
means  a  vital  object  with  the  Virginian  planters  of  those  days.  The 
general  want  of  schools,  likewise  owing  to  the  scattered  state  of  the 
population,  "  was  most  of  all  bewailed  by  parents  in  Virginia.  The 
want  of  schools  was  more  deplored  than  the  want  of  churches.  The 
children  of  Virginia,  naturally  of  beautiful  and  comely  persons,  and 


SLAVERY    IN   VIRGINIA. 


237 


of  more  ingenuous  spirits  than  those  of  England,"  grew  up  almost 
devoid  of  instruction. 

"  The  theocratic  form  of  government  in  New  England,"  says  Hil- 
dreth,  "  tended  to  diminish  the  influence  of  wealth  by  introducing  a 
different  basis  of  distinction,  and  still  more  so  that  activity  of  mind, 
the  consequence  of  strong  religious  excitement.  Hence,  in  New 
England,  a  constant  tendency  towards  social  equality.  In  Virginia 
and  Maryland,  on  the  other  hand,  the  management  of  provincial  and 
local  affairs  fell  more  and  more  under  the  control  of  a  few  wealthy 
men,  possessed  of  large  tracts  of  land,  which  they  cultivated  by  the 
labour  partly  of  slaves,  but  principally  of  indented  white  servants. 

"  Indented  servants  existed,  indeed,  in  all  the  American  colonies ; 
but  the  cultivation  of  tobacco  created  a  special  demand  for  them  in 
Virginia  and  Maryland.  A  regular  trade  was  early  established  in 
the  transport  of  persons  who,  for  the  sake  of  a  passage  to  America, 
suffered  themselves  to  be  sold  by  the  master  of  the  vessel  to  serve 
for  a  term  of  years  after  their  arrival.  Nor  was  this  embarkation 
always  voluntary ;  sometimes  they  were  entrapped  by  infamous  arts, 
sometimes  even  kidnapped,  and  sometimes  they  were  persons  sen- 
tenced to  transportation  for  political  and  other  offences.  Felons  so 
transported  were  known  under  the  appellation  of  'jail-birds.'  Crom- 
well in  this  way  disposed  of  his  English,  Scotch,  and  Irish  prisoners 
of  war,  both  in  Virginia  and  New  England.  On  the  expiration  of 
their  term  of  servitude,  of  four,  five,  or  seven  years,  these  servants 
acquired  all  the  rights  of  freemen,  and  in  Virginia  were  entitled  to 
the  fifty  acres  of  land  to  which  all  immigrants  had  a  claim." 

The  plantations  lay  along  the  rivers,  and  trading  vessels  ascending 
them,  landed  their  goods  and  took  the  tobacco,  the  great  staple  pro- 
duction of  the  country,  on  board  at  their  very  doors.  There  was  no 
home-manufacture  of  any  kind  in  Virginia ;  all  manufactured  goods 
were  imported  from  England.  Virginia  herself  neither  exported  nor 
imported.  She  possessed  not  above  two  vessels  of  her  own ;  and, 
though  ship-building  and  navigation  might  have  been  carried  on 
advantageously  from  her  position,  she  had  neither  the  talent  nor  the 
turn  of  mind  necessary  for  such  engagements. 

As  a  picture  of  Virginian  life  at  this  period,  we  will  indulge 
ourselves  with  a  graphic  extract  from  Bancroft,  to  whom  we  are 


238  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

already  so  largely  obliged.  "  The  generation  now  in  existence  was 
chiefly  the  fruit  of  the  soil ;  they  were  children  of  the  woods  nur- 
tured in  the  freedom  of  the  wilderness,  and  dwelling  in  lonely 
cottages  scattered  along  the  streams.  No  newspaper  entered  their 
houses,  no  printing-press  furnished  them  with  books.  They  had  no 
recreation  but  such  as  nature  provides  in  her  wilds ;  no  education 
but  such  as  parents  in  the  desert  could  give  to  their  offspring. 
The  paths  were  bridleways  rather  than  roads,  and  it  is  questionable 
if  there  was  what  we  should  call  a  bridge  in  the  whole  dominion. 
Visits  were  made  in  boats,  or  on  horseback,  through  the  forests ;  and 
the  Virginian,  travelling  with  his  pouch  of  tobacco  for  currency, 
swam  the  river  where  there  was  neither  ford  nor  ferry.  Almost 
every  planter  was  his  own  mechanic.  The  houses,  for  the  most 
part,  but  of  one  story,  and  made  of  wood,  often  of  logs,  the  windows 
closed  by  convenient  shutters  for  want  of  glass,  were  sprinkled  on 
both  sides  of  the  Chesapeake,  from  the  Potomac  to  the  borders  of 
Carolina.  There  was  hardly  such  a  sight  as  a  cluster  of  three  dwell- 
ings. Jamestown  was  but  a  place  of  a  State-house,  one  church  and 
eighteen  houses,  occupied  by  about  a  dozen  families.  Till  very  lately 
the  legislature  assembled  in  the  hall  of  an  ale-house.  Virginia  had 
neither  towns  nor  lawyers.  A  few  of  the  wealthier  planters,  how- 
ever, lived  in  braver  state  at  their  large  plantations,  and  surrounded 
by  indented  servants  and  slaves,  produced  a  new  form  of  society  that 
has  sometimes  been  likened  to  the  manners  of  the  patriarchs,  and 
sometimes  to  the  baronial  pride  of  feudalism." 

Such  was  the  population  of  Virginia.  Hospitable  and  luxurious 
in  the  simplicity  of  their  free,  unconventional  life ;  loving  liberty, 
not  so  much  as  a  sublime  principle  of  human  elevation  and  enlighten- 
ment, but  as  the  very  element  of  their  joyous  existence ;  cherishing  a 
sentiment  of  loyalty  and  attachment  to  the  old  mother-country,  with 
such  traditional  reverence  as  they  would  regard  the  head  of  an  ances- 
tral line ;  enthusiastic  and  impulsive,  quick  to  revenge  and  keen  in 
their  sense  of  wrong.  We  shall  see  the  effect  produced  on  a  people 
of  this  generous  and  mercurial  character,  by  the  oppressions  of  a 
monarch  whom  they  had  welcomed  back  to  his  throne  with  all  the 
enthusiasm  of  their  traditional  loyalty. 

The  first  evidence  of  the  Restoration  perceived  in  Virginia  was 


(1661.)  ARBITRARY   AND   UNJUST   LAWS.  239 

the  rigorous  enforcement  of  the  Navigation  Act,  by  which  all  foreign 
vessels  were  excluded  from  the  English  colonies.  At  the  expense  of 
200,000  pounds  of  tobacco,  Sir  William  Berkeley  was  sent  over  by  the 
colony  to  remonstrate  on  their  behalf ;  but  Sir  William  employed  his 
time  in  London,  not  on  the  business  of  the  colony,  but  in  securing  to 
himself  a  share  in  the  Great  Carolina  Charter,  in  which,  as  we  have 
said,  he  became  one  of  the  eight  proprietaries. 

So  far  from  anything  being  done  to  lessen  the  pressure  of  the 
Navigation  Act  on  the  Anglo-American  colonies,  the  following  par- 
liament increased  its  stringency,  and  the  colonists  were  prohibited 
from  shipping  their  produce,  known  under  the  term  "enumerated 
articles,"  to  any  other  market  than  that  of  England;  and  from 
importing  any  European  commodities  otherwise  than  through  the 
English  merchant.  This  law,  which  pressed  heavily  on  New 
England,  was  fatal  to  Virginia,  whose  sole  staple  was  tobacco,  and 
who  depended  on  the  New  England  trader,  whose  commercial  deal- 
ings were  already  of  a  European  character,  and  who  contrived  for  a 
long  time  to  set  the  law  at  defiance.  It  was  different  with  Virginia, 
— she  had  no  ships  of  her  own ;  custom-houses  sealed  her  ports ;  her 
market  was  restricted,  and  the  prices  of  all  foreign  goods,  coming  to 
her  through  the  English  merchant,  were  increased. 

While  these  arbitrary  and  unjust  laws  were  crippling  her  com- 
merce, a  fatal  change  was  also  taking  place  in  her  constitution.  The 
first  assembly  elected  after  the  Restoration  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
the  aristocratic  party,  whose  first  measures  were  to  revise  the  legisla- 
tive code,  and  weed  out  those  democratic  tendencies  which  had  been 
introduced  during  the  period  of  self-government.  Under  this  new,  or 
rather  this  revival  of  the  original  constitution,  the  English  episcopal 
church  became  the  religion  of  the  state,  with  its  canons,  liturgy  and 
catechism.  And  though,  as  we  have  said,  there  were  only  about  ten 
ministers  in  the  fifty  parishes,  yet  strict  conformity  was  required, 
and  every  one  was  taxed  for  the  support  of  the  established  church. 
Glebes  and  parsonages  were  to  be  provided  with  a  maintenance  of 
not  less  than  fourscore  pounds  to  each  clergyman,  besides  fees  and 
perquisites ;  for  any  funeral  sermon,  400  pounds  weight  of  tobacco ; 
marriage  published  by  banns,  fifty  pounds ;  by  licence,  two  hundred 
pounds.  Nonconformist  preachers  were  to  be  silenced  or  sent  out  of 


240  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

the  country.  Quakers,  who  "  gathered  together  unlawful  assemblies, 
teaching  and  publishing  lies  and  false  doctrines,"  were  to  be  impri- 
soned without  trial  till  they  could  be  sent  out  of  the  colony,  and 
treated  as  felons  on  their  return.  Among  other  enactments  we  find 
that  any  "  who,  out  of  new-fangled  conceits  of  their  own  heretical 
invention,  refuse  to  have  their  children  baptized  by  the  lawful 
minister,"  shall  be  subjected  to  a  fine  of  2,000  pounds  weight  of 
tobacco.  And  a  member  of  the  assembly,  being  accused  of  favouring 
Anabaptist  and  Quaker  opinions,  was  expelled. 

All  this  severity,  however,  had  not  so  much  the  effect  of  destroying 
as  of  diffusing  these  "heresies."  Men  and  women,  to  whom  the 
great  wilderness  had  been  as  the  temple  of  God,  in  which  the  spirit 
had  taught  them  divine  things,  now  that  bigotry  and  intolerance 
commenced  their  pitiless  work  in  Virginia,  removed  into  the  new 
state  of  North  Carolina,  and  took  deep  root  there,  as  we  have  seen. 

And  not  only  was  the  church  well  provided  for  by  the  royalist 
assembly,  but  the  state  also.  While  Virginia  by  her  citizens  elected 
her  governor,  she  had  allowed  him  a  fixed  salary,  which,  now  that  he 
was  nominated  by  the  crown,  was  insufficient.  One  thousand 
pounds,  derivable  from  a  permanent  tax  on  tobacco,  with  an  additional 
two  hundred  more  than  the  whole  annual  expenditure  of  the  govern- 
ment of  Connecticut,  was  granted  as  his  permanent  salary ;  but  even 
that  did  not  satisfy  him.  He  complained  that  he  had  not  three  times 
as  much,  adding  for  his  consolation,  "  I  am,  however,  supported  by 
my  hopes  that  his  gracious  majesty  will  one  day  consider  me."  Such 
now  was  the  royal  governor  of  Virginia. 

The  justiciary  government  of  the  province  was  also  changed ;  the 
magistrates  were  appointed  by  the  governor  and  council,  and  held 
their  offices  for  life.  The  county  courts,  now  independent  of  the 
people,  levied  county-rates  at  their  own  pleasure  and  for  their  own 
expenses — they  being  an  irresponsible  body.  Like  the  county 
magistrates,  the  newly-elected  members  of  assembly,  though  nomi- 
nally chosen  for  two  years  held  themselves  to  be  equally  irrespon- 
sible, and  remained  in  office  for  many  years.  Before  long,  therefore, 
"  the  meetings  of  the  people  at  the  usual  places  of  election  had  for 
their  object,  not  the  election  of  burgesses,  but  to  present  their 
grievances  "  Indeed  the  power  of  election,  if  the  exercise  of  it  had 


(1661.)   CHANGES  PRODUCED  IN  VIRGINIA  BY  THE  RESTORATION.          241 

been  required,  was  soon  limited ;  the  elective  franchise  being  now 
restricted  to  freeholders  and  householders. 

The  Restoration  produced  in  Virginia  a  political  revolution, 
opposed  to  the  principle  of  popular  liberty  and  the  progress  of 
humanity.  To  sum  up  the  changes  which  had  taken  place ;  we  shall 
find  the  General  Assembly,  which  sat  at  the  pleasure  of  the  governor, 
imposing  arbitrary  taxes,  and  deriving  extravagant  and  exorbitant 
emoluments  ;  we  shall  find  a  constituency  restricted  and  diminished ; 
religious  liberty  at  an  end,  arbitrary  taxation  in  the  counties  by  irre- 
sponsible magistrates  ;  hostility  to  popular  education  and  the  press — 
regarding  which  we  may  quote  the  governor's  own  words  :  "  Thank 
God,  there  are  no  free  schools  nor  printing,  and  I  hope  we  shall  not 
have  for  these  hundred  years  ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience, 
and  heresy,  and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them 
and  libels  against  the  best  government.  God  keep  us  from  both  ! " 

In  this  artificial  and  unhealthy  state  of  the  colony,  the  cultivation 
of  tobacco  no  longer  paid  the  planter,  and  in  order  to  raise  the  price, 
a  "  stint "  was  proposed,  that  is  to  say,  that  the  cultivation  of  tobacco 
should  cease  for  one  or  more  years,  so  as  to  raise  the  price.  About 
the  time  when  this  extraordinary  measure  was  proposed.  Sir  William 
Berkeley  sent  out  an  exploring  party,  who  crossed  the  first  ridge  of 
the  Blue  Mountains,  and  discovered  the  wonderful  succession  of 
valleys  beyond,  full  of  the  richest  vegetation,  and  abounding  "  with 
turkey,  deer,  elk,  and  buffalo,  gentle  and  undisturbed  as  yet  by  the 
fear  of  man."  These  beautiful  and  affluent  regions,  which  it  might 
have  been  expected  would  have  attracted  settlers  immediately,  were 
however,  owing  to  the  sorrows  which  were  coming  upon  the  colony, 
not  penetrated  again  for  fifty  years. 

About  the  same  time  also,  a  question  was  started  with  regard  to 
negro  slaves,  the  decision  of  which  was,  as  might  be  expected,  preju- 
dicial to  that  unhappy  class.  The  lawfulness  of  holding  African 
slaves  had  been  supposed  in  part  to  rest  upon  their  being  "  heathen ;" 
but  now,  as  considerable  numbers  were  converted  and  baptized  Chris- 
tians, this  former  plea,  if  valid,  ceased  to  be  so.  But  the  assembly  soon 
settled  the  question  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  planters,  by  an  enact- 
ment which  made  the  negro,  whether  Christian  or  not,  a  slave ;  and 
furthermore  it  was  enacted  that  to  cause  the  death  of  a  slave  by  excess 
VOL.  i.  11 


2-±2  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  punishment  should  not  be  considered  as  felony.  As  regarded 
Indians  being  held  as  slaves,  a  new  law  was  provided,  which  made  all 
servants,  not  being  Christians  imported  by  shipping,  slaves  for  life ; 
and  Indian  slaves  were  imported  into  Virginia  from  the  West  Indies 
and  the  Spanish  main. 

While  the  governor  and  the  assembly  were  depriving  the  Virginian 
people  of  their  franchises,  and  laying  burdens  on  them  grievous  to  be 
borne,  Charles  II.,  the  monarch  whom  the  aristocratical  portion  of  the 
state  regarded  with  reverential  affection,  was  preparing  to  invade 
even  their  rights  in  no  less  unwelcome  a  manner  than  they  had 
invaded  the  rights  of  the  people.  In  1669,  the  Northern  Neck,  as  it 
is  called,  the  district  lying  between  the  Rappahannock  and  Potomac 
rivers,  was  granted  to  Lord  Culpepper,  "  one  of  the  most  cunning  and 
covetous  men  in  England,"  the  same  territory  having,  immediately 
after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.,  been  granted  to  a  party  of  cavaliers 
as  a  refuge  for  royalists,  whose  long-established  settlements  were  thus 
invaded.  Nor  did  the  invasion  of  rights  end  here.  Four  years  after- 
wards, the  same  lavish  monarch  granted  to  the  same  Lord  John 
Culpepper  and  to  Henry,  Earl  of  Arlington,  one  of  the  most  extrava- 
gant of  Charles's  courtiers,  the  husband  of  the  king's  favourite,  Lady 
Castlemaine,  and  esteemed  to  be  the  "  best-bred  man  at  court,"  "  all 
the  dominion  of  land  and  water  called  Virginia  for  the  full  term  of 
thirty-one  years,  together  with  all  quit-rents,  escheats,  the  power  to 
grant  land,  and  all  other  powers  of  absolute  sovereignty." 

The  assembly  was  alarmed  j  and  sent  over  deputies  to  beseech  of 
the  king  to  reconsider  this  grant,  or  to  purchase  it  for  the  colony;  for 
which  purpose,  as  well  as  for  the  expenses  of  the  deputies,  an 
enormous  poll-tax  was  imposed.  Under  this  new  grant,  Berkeley's 
commission  as  governor  expired,  but  the  aristocratic  party  voted  him 
an  increase  of  salary,  and  solicited  his  reappointment  as  governor  for 
life ;  and  he  continued  to  hold  office. 

The  discontent  of  Virginia  rose  to  a  great  height.  The  people,  who 
had  not  their  political  or  local  gatherings,  "now  met  in  the  solitude  of 
the  forests  to  discuss  their  grievances.  They  were  ripe  for  insur- 
rection ;  and,  seeing  the  spirit  that  was  in  them,  the  men  of  wealth 
and  consideration,  who  otherwise  were  stung  by  their  own  and  their 
country's  wrongs  to  resistance,  held  aloof." 


(1669.)        INDIAN   WAR — NATHANIEL    BACON'S   INSURRECTION.  243 

In  the  meantime,  events  were  bringing  matters  to  a  crisis.  And, 
as  so  singularly  happens  at  times  of  public  calamity  and  excitement, 
unusual  natural  occurrences  are  regarded  as  portentous  omens,  so  now 
a  large  comet  was  visible  in  the  sky,  the  tail  of  which  streamed  west- 
ward ;  nights  of  pigeons,  such  as  had  never  been  since  the  time  of  the 
former  Indian  wars,  and  which  darkened  the  whole  heavens,  together 
with  a  fearful  plague  of  flies,  prepared  the  popular  mind,  as  it  were, 
for  the  calamities  which  were  at  hand. 

These  phenomena,  which  excited  so  deeply  the  superstitious  fears  of 
the  Virginians,  were  contemporaneous  with  those  which  we  have 
already  mentioned  as  exciting  similar  feelings  in  the  breast  of  New 
England  at  the  commencement  of  the  great  Indian  war.  Here,  also, 
were  they  attended  by  the  breaking  out  of  an  Indian  war.  The  Sus- 
quehannah  Indians,  being  driven  by  the  Senecas  from  the  head  of  the 
Chesapeake,  came  down  upon  Maryland,  and  the  Virginian  planters 
of  the  Northern  Neck  aided  in  their  expulsion.  Among  these  planters 
was  John  "Washington,  great-grandfather  of  the  celebrated  General 
Washington,  and  who,  with  his  brother  Lawrence,  had  emigrated  about 
eighteen  years  before  from  England.  Washington  was  colonel  of  the 
forces  employed  against  the  Indians ;  and  having  unfortunately  and 
unjustifiably  put  to  death  six  Indian  chiefs  who  had  come  to  him  to 
treat  of  peace,  war  broke  out  with  tenfold  violence.  It  was  now  a  war  of 
reprisals ;  the  savage  was  inflamed  with  vengeance,  and  the  midnight 
war-whoop  was  the  signal  of  death  to  the  peaceful  and  defenceless 
inhabitants  of  the  frontier.  The  people  rose  in  terror  and  demanded 
means  of  defence.  But  Berkeley,  who  held  a  monopoly  of  the  beaver 
trade  in  Virginia,  discouraged  the  war  and  disregarded  their  danger. 

The  people,  irritated  by  their  wrongs,  and  now  incensed  at  the 
indifference  of  the  governor  to  their  immediate  distress,  looked  round 
for  a  leader,  and  one  was  at  hand.  This  insurgent  chief  was  Nathaniel 
Bacon,  a  young  man  not  yet  thirty,  of  great  wealth  and  expectations, 
who  had  studied  law  in  London.  His  uncle,  of  the  same  name,  and 
to  whom  he  was  presumptive  heir,  was  a  member  of  the  council  ; 
young  Bacon  also  was  about  to  be  admitted,  though  he  was  suspectjd 
by  Berkeley  of  being  "  popularly  inclined." 

This  young  man  was  possessed  of  all  the  qualities  requisite  for  a 
popular  leader ;  he  had  a  fine  address,  was  singularly  eloquent  and 


244  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

persuasive,  quick  of  apprehension,  brave,  yet  discreet  in  action  ; 
"  though  young,  master  of  those  endowments  which  constitute  a 
complete  man;  wisdom  to  apprehend,  and  discretion  to  execute." 
The  people  demanded  that  they  should  defend  themselves  as  well  as 
assert  their  rights,  and  that  Bacon  should  have  a  commission  as  their 
leader.  Five  hundred  men  were  ready  to  obey  him.  Bacon  said  that 
if  another  white  man  were  murdered,  he  would  march  against  the 
Indians  with  no  other  commission  than  his  sword.  Soon  after,  the 
Indians  fell  upon  his  own  people  and  slew  them.  This  determined 
him  to  action.  But  scarcely  had  he  commenced  his  march  against 
the  Indians,  than  Berkeley,  fearing  the  result  of  a  leader  of  Bacon's 
influence  and  address  on  the  minds  of  an  already  disaffected  people, 
proclaimed  him  and  his  followers  rebels,  and  hired  troops  to  go  in 
pursuit  of  them.  The  wealthier  portion  of  Bacon's  followers  obeyed 
the  summons  to  disperse,  but  he,  with  a  small  determined  band, 
pursued  his  purpose.  Meantime  an  insurrection  in  another  part  of 
the  country  compelled  Berkeley  to  return  to  Jamestown,  where  he 
was  met  by  the  insurgents,  who  demanded  the  immediate  dissolution 
of  the  assembly,  which  they  regarded  as  the  authors  of  the  country's 
calamities. 

Alarmed  by  the  aspect  of  affairs,  Berkeley  acquiesced ;  the  assembly 
was  dissolved,  and  writs  issued  for  a  new  election,  in  which  Bacon, 
now  having  returned  triumphant  from  his  expedition  against  the 
Indians,  was  elected  member  for  Henrico  county.  The  new  assembly  f 
spite  of  the  disfranchisement  of  the  freemen,  was  one  of  a  popular 
character,  and  the  measures  which  they  immediately  introduced  were 
liberal  and  reformatory,  and  by  no  means  calculated  to  please  the 
governor,  who  still  continued  to  treat  Bacon  as  a  delinquent.  Bacon, 
on  his  part,  in  order  to  conciliate  the  opposite  faction,  and  to  satisfy 
his  aged  and  wealthy  relative,  acknowledged  on  one  knee,  at  the  bar 
of  the  house,  his  error  in  having  taken  up  arms  without  a  commission ; 
and  on  this  acknowledgment,  Berkeley  promised  him  a  commission  as 
commander-in-chief  on  the  following  Monday,  that  being  Saturday. 
The  town  rang  with  acclamations,  and  he  was  again  hailed  by  the 
populace  as  the  defender  of  Virginia. 

But  when,  on  the  Monday,  the  granting  of  the  commission  was 
deferred  by  the  governor,  and  so  on  for  several  days,  Bacon  began  to 


(1676.)         BACON    OBTAINS    HIS    COMMISSION   AS    COMMANDER.  245 

apprehend  that  treachery  was  intended,  which  apprehensions  also  the 
elder  Bacon  seems  to  have  seconded.  He  suddenly,  therefore,  with- 
drew from  Jamestown,  and  warrants  were  secretly  issued  to  seize 
him. 

In  a  few  days  Bacon  reappeared,  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  body 
of  armed  men,  within  a  short  distance  of  Jamestown.  Berkeley  called 
up  his  forces  to  defend  the  town,  but  the  soldiers  were  disaffected, 
half  of  them  were  favourable  to  the  popular  side.  Within  four  days 
after  the  alarm  of  this  second  popular  outbreak,  Bacon,  at  the  head  of 
600  men,  stood  before  the  State-house  in  Jamestown.  Berkeley,  in  a 
sort  of  tragic  excitement,  rushed  out,  and,  baring  his  breast,  exclaimed, 
"  Here,  shoot  me !  'Fore  God,  a  fair  mark !  shoot." 

"  No,  may  it  please  your  honour,"  returned  Bacon,  calmly,  "we  will 
not  hurt  a  hair  of  your  head,  nor  of  any  other  man's.  We  are  come 
for  a  commission  to  save  our  lives  from  the  Indians,  which  you  have 
so  often  promised,  and  now  we  will  have  it  before  we  go." 

Berkeley  returned  to  the  State-house,  accompanied  by  Bacon,  whose 
partisans  outside,  crowding  round  the  windows,  exclaimed,  "We'll 
have  it;  we'll  have  it!"  "You  shall  have  it;  you  shall  have  it!" 
said  one  of  the  burgesses,  addressing  them  from  the  house,  and  they 
withdrew,  pacified.  Bacon,  once  more  in  the  house,  "  harangued  the 
body  for  near  an  hour  on  the  Indian  disturbances ;  the  condition  of 
the  public  revenues;  the  exorbitant  taxes,  abuses  and  corruptions 
of  the  administration,  and  all  the  grievances  of  their  miserable 
country." 

"The  commission  was  issued,"  says  Bancroft,  "and  the  ameliorating 
legislation  of  the  assembly  was  ratified.  That  better  legislation  was 
completed,  according  to  the  new  style  of  computation,  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1676,  just  100  years  to  a  day  before  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  adopting  the  declaration  which  had  been  framed  by  a  states- 
man of  Virginia,  who,  like  Bacon,  was  « popularly  inclined,'  began  a 
new  era  in  the  history  of  man."  "  The  child  is  father  of  the  man," 
may  be  said  with  equal  truth  of  nations  as  of  individuals.  The  early 
history  of  America  foretold  a  strong  maturity. 

A  better  day  seemed  now  to  be  at  hand,  and  the  whole  country 
rejoiced  with  hope,  when  again  the  tempest  gathered.  Scarcely  had 
Bacon  marched  with  his  troops  towards  the  frontiers,  than  Berkeley, 


246  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

repenting  of  the  concession  that  had  been  made  to  the  popular  party, 
again  proclaimed  him  a  traitor.  This  unadvised  step  excited  the 
indignation  of  every  generous  heart  in  Virginia,  and  the  party  of 
Bacon  was  strengthened  by  the  accession  of  many  powerful  names. 
Drummond  the  late  governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  Richard  Law- 
rence, "  a  man  of  deep  reflection  and  energy  of  purpose,"  hastened  to 
the  camp  of  Bacon.  "  Shall  persons  wholly  devoted  to  their  king  and 
country,  men  hazarding  their  lives  against  the  public  enemy,  deserve 
the  appellation  of  rebels  and  traitors  P"  exclaimed  Bacon,  when  the 
news  reached  him.  "  But  those  in  authority,  how  have  they  obtained 
their  estates?  Have  they  not  devoured  the  common  treasury?  What 
arts,  what  sciences,  what  schools  of  learning  have  they  promoted  ?  I 
appeal  to  the  king  and  parliament,  where  the  cause  of  the  people  will 
be  heard  impartially." 

The  purpose  of  Bacon  was  now  changed ;  and,  addressing  the  peo- 
ple of  Virginia,  he  invited  them,  by  their  love  of  country  and  home, 
to  meet  him  in  convention  at  Middle  Plantation,  now  Williamsburgh, 
and  "  aid  in  rescuing  the  colony  from  the  tyranny  of  Berkeley."  The 
call  was  responded  to,  and  an  oath  was  taken  by  a  convention  com- 
posed of  the  principal  men  of  the  colony,  to  join  him  against  the 
Indians,  and  to  prevent,  if  possible,  a  civil  war ;  yet  still,  if  forces 
should  arrive  from  England — for  Berkeley  had  appealed  to  the  mother- 
country — they  would  resist  them,  until  their  own  appeal  should  reach 
the  king. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  "  a  spy  was  detected  in  Bacon's  camp. 
Being  sentenced  to  death  by  court-martial,  Bacon  declared  that  if  any 
one  in  the  army  would  speak  a  word  to  save  him,  he  should  not  suffer. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken,  and  he  was  put  to  death.  Bacon's  clemency 
won  the  admiration  of  the  army,  and  this  was  the  only  instance  of 
capital  punishment  under  his  orders ;  nor  did  he  plunder  any  private 
house." 

Bacon  was  now  almost  omnipotent  in  the  province.  Drummond 
advised  the  immediate  deposition  of  Berkeley,  urging  from  the  ancient 
records  of  Virginia  that  such  things  had  already  been  done.  Bacon 
preferred  rather  that  his  retreat  should  be  regarded  as  abdication,  for 
he  had  left  Jamestown,  and  fled  across  Chesapeake  Bay,  to  Accomac, 
on  the  eastern  shore  j  and  so  it  was  determined,  the  ten  years  for 


(1676.)  SIR  WILLIAM   BERKELEY   AT   JAMESTOWN.  247 

which  he  was  appointed  having  expired.  As  with  the  Puritans  of  New 
England,  so  here,  in  this  great  contest  for  liberty  and  popular  rights, 
were  women  among  the  active  spirits.  "  The  child  that  is  unborn," 
said  Sarah  Drummond,  "  shall  have  cause  to  rejoice  of  the  good  that 
will  come  by  this  rising  of  the  country."  "  Should  we  overcome  the 
governor,"  said  the  cautious  Ralph  Weldinge,  "we  must  expect  a 
greater  power  from  England,  that  would  certainly  be  our  ruin."  In 
reply,  this  spirited  woman  reminded  them  that  England  had  much  to 
think  of  at  that  time,  being  divided  herself  into  hostile  factions,  and 
taking  up  from  the  ground  a  small  stick,  which  she  broke,  she  said 
«'  I  fear  the  power  of  England  no  more  than  a  broken  straw."  As 
regarded  the  navigation  act,  she  said,  anticipating  a  future  greatness 
for  Virginia,  "  We  can  build  ships,  and  like  New  England,  trade  to 
any  part  of  the  world."  With  such  women  the  men  could  not  do  less 
than  strive  bravely. 

Meanwhile  Sir  William  Berkeley,  who  meant  anything  but  an 
abdication  by  his  flight,  collected  at  Accomac  a  large  number  of 
adherents,  men  of  a  base  and  cowardly  nature,  allured  by  the  passion 
for  plunder,  among  whom  were  great  numbers  of  the  indented 
servants  of  the  insurgents  to  whom  he  promised  liberty.  With  these, 
a  number  of  royalists  and  a  horde  of  Indians,  he  sailed  with  five 
English  vessels  and  ten  sloops  for  Jamestown,  where  landing  without 
opposition,  he  fell  on  his  knees  and  returned  thanks  to  God,  after 
which  he  again  proclaimed  Bacon  and  his  party  traitors.  As  regards 
these  ships,  we  must  relate  how  they  came  into  the  governor's  hands, 
and  this  we  will  do  in  the  words  of  Campbell,  in  his  Introduction  to 
the  History  of  the  Old  Dominion.  "There  was  a  gentleman  in 
Virginia,  Giles  Bland,  only  son  of  John  Bland,  an  eminent  merchant 
of  London,  who  was  personally  known  to  the  king  and  had  consider- 
able interest  at  court.  As  he  was  sending  out  his  son  to  Virginia, 
to  take  possession  of  the  estate  of  his  uncle,  Theodorick  Bland,  he  got 
him  appointed  collector-general  of  the  customs.  In  this  capacity  he 
had  a  right  to  board  any  vessel  he  thought  proper.  He  was  a  man  of 
talent,  courage,  of  a  haughty  bearing,  and  having  quarrelled  with  the 
governor,  now  sided  warmly  with  Bacon.  There  chanced  to  be  lying 
in  York  Piver,  a  vessel  of  sixteen  guns,  commanded  by  Captain 
Laramore.  Bland  boarded  her  with  a  party  of  armed  men,  on 


248  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

pretence  of  searching  for  contraband  goods,  and  seizing  the  captain 
confined  him  to  the  cabin.  Laramore,  discovering  Eland's  designs, 
resolved  to  deceive  in  his  turn,  and  entered  into  his  measures  with 
such  apparent  sincerity,  that  he  was  restored  to  command.  With  her 
and  a  vessel  of  four  guns  under  Captain  Carver,  Bland,  now  appointed 
Bacon's  lieutenant-general,  sailed  with  250  men  for  Accomac.  On  his 
passage  he  was  joined  by  another  vessel,  commanded  by  Captain 
Barlow,  one  of  Cromwell's  soldiers,  and  so  appeared  off  Accomac  with 
four  sail.  The  governor  had  not  a  single  vessel  to  defend  himself,  and 
was  overwhelmed  with  despair.  At  this  juncture  he  received  a  note 
from  Laramore,  offering,  if  he  would  send  him  some  assistance,  to 
deliver  Bland  with  all  his  men  into  his  hands.  The  governor  at  first 
suspected  a  trick,  but  being  advised  by  his  friend  Colonel  Ludwell, 
accepted  Laramore's  offer  as  his  only  alternative,  and  Ludwell  himself 
undertook  the  enterprise.  Accompanied  by  twenty-six  men  he 
appeared  alongside  Laramore's  vessel,  and  not  only  boarded  her  with- 
out loss  of  a  man,  but  took  the  other  vessels  also  soon  after.  Bland, 
Carver  and  the  other  chiefs  were  sent  to  the  governor,  and  the  com- 
mon men  secured  on  board  the  vessel. 

"  When  Laramore  waited  on  the  governor,  he  clasped  him  in  his 
arms,  called  him  his  deliverer,  and  gave  him  a  large  share  of  favour. 
In  a  few  days  the  brave  Carver  and  Barlow  were  hanged  on  the 
Accomac  shore  and  Bland  put  in  irons.  Captain  Gardiner,  sailing 
from  James  River,  now  came  to  the  governor's  relief  with  his  own 
vessel,  the  Adam  and  Eve,  and  several  sloops.  Sir  William  Berkeley, 
by  this  unexpected  turn  of  affairs,  was  suddenly  raised  from  the  abyss 
of  despair  to  the  pinnacle  of  hope." 

Berkeley  now  took  up  his  position  in  Jamestown,  and  was  soon 
besieged  by  Bacon  and  his  force,  which  having  been  dispersed,  was 
considerably  inferior  in  numbers  to  that  of  the  governor.  Jamestown 
was  situated  on  a  peninsula  two  miles  long  and  about  a  mile  broad, 
washed  on  the  south  by  the  river  and  encompassed  on  the  north  by  a 
deep  creek.  The  situation  was  insalubrious,  the  low  ground  being 
full  of  marshes  and  swamps  of  brackish  waters,  which  created, 
especially  in  summer,  a  constant  malaria.  Bacon  commenced 
intrenchments  across  the  neck  of  the  peninsula,  and  as  a  means  of 
defence  against  the  besieged,  while  engaged  in  this  work,  resorted  to 


(1676.)    JAMESTOWN   TAKEN   AND   BURNT   BY    THE    INSURGENTS.  249 

an  extraordinary  expedient,  which  we  will  give  in  the  words  of  Mrs. 
Ann  Cotton.  "  He  was  no  sooner  arrived  at  town,  when,  by  several 
small  parties  of  horse,  he  fetched  into  his  little  league  all  the  prime 
men's  wives  whose  husbands  were  with  the  governor,  as  Colonel 
Bacon's  lady,  Madam  Bray,  Madam  Page,  Madam  Ballard  and 
others,  which  the  next  morning  he  presents  to  the  view  of  their 
husbands  and  friends  fn  town  upon  the  top  of  the  small  work  he  had 
cast  up  in  the  night,  where  he  caused  them  to  tarry  till  he  had 
finished  his  defence  against  his  enemies'  shot,  it  being  the  only  place 
for  those  in  the  towns  to  make  a  sally  at. 

They  made  a  sally,  the  ladies  being  removed,  but  to  very  little 
purpose ;  and  two  or  three  days  afterwards,  being  impatient  for 
plunder,  the  followers  of  the  governor  "  embarked  in  the  night, 
secretly  weighing  anchor,  and  dropping  silently  down  the  river," 
fled  from  an  enemy  greatly  inferior  to  themselves  in  number,  and 
who,  while  lying  outside  the  walls,  had  been  exposed  to  hardships 
much  severer  than  their  own.  Berkeley  also  fled,  accompanied  by 
the  inhabitants  and  their  goods,  thus  leaving  Jamestown  open  to  the 
insurgents. 

The  next  morning  Bacon  entered;  it  was  reported  that  the 
governor  had  only  fled  to  join  a  party  of  royalists  who  were  advan- 
cing from  the  north.  He  determined  therefore  to  burn  the  town,  to 
prevent  its  becoming  a  harbour  to  the  enemy ;  and  Drummond  and 
Lawrence,  who  were  with  Bacon,  not  only  counselled  this  desperate 
measure,  but  themselves  set  fire  to  their  own  houses,  which  were  the 
best  in  the  town  after  the  governor's.  The  number  of  houses,  how- 
ever, was  small,  amounting  to  about  eighteen ;  but  the  church,  the 
oldest  in  America,  and  the  newly-erected  State-house,  were  consumed 
likewise,  "  the  ruins  of  the  church-tower  and  the  memorials  in  the 
adjoining  grave-yard  being  all  that  now  remain  to  point  out  to  the 
stranger  where  once  Jamestown  stood." 

Leaving  the  smoking  ruins  of  Jamestown,  Bacon  marched  to  meet 
Colonel  Brent,  who  was  advancing  from  the  the  Potomac  with  1,200 
men.  No  battle  ensued,  however,  for  the  greater  number  of  these 
deserted  the  royalist  cause,  and  Bacon,  advancing  to  Gloucester, 
called  a  convention  and  administered  an  oath  to  the  people,  swearing 
them  to  the  cause  of  popular  liberty.  The  whole  of  Virginia,  with 

11* 


250  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  exception  of  the  eastern  shore,  was  now  revolutionised.    Berkeley 
had  again  fled  to  Accomac. 

At  this  important  moment,  Bacon,  who  had  inhaled  disease  on  the 
marshes  of  Jamestown,  suddenly  fell  sick,  and  on  the  1st  of  October 
died,  leaving  the  great  cause  of  the  people  without  a  leader.  His 
death  wrung  the  popular  heart ;  despair  fell  on  all,  for  there  was  no 
one  to  finish  his  work. 

The  place  of  his  interment  was  never  known ;  it  was  concealed  even 
from  the  body  of  his  partisans,  lest  his  remains  should  be  insulted  by 
the  vindictive  Berkeley.  According  to  one  tradition  his  friend 
Lawrence  secretly  buried  him,  laying  stones  upon  his  coffin ;  others 
maintain  that  his  body  was  sunk  in  the  deep  waters  of  the  majestic 
York  River ;  and  this  is  by  no  means  improbable. 

General  Ingram  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  popular  forces  on 
Bacon's  death ;  and  Berkeley,  rejoicing  in  the  misfortune  that  had 
befallen  his  enemies,  roused  himself  to  resistance,  and  sent  Colonel 
Beverley  to  meet  them.  The  tide  now  set  in  against  the  insurgents ; 
Beverley  immediately  captured  Thomas  Hansford,  an  insurgent  leader, 
"  a  young,  gay,  and  gallant  man ;  fond  of  amusement,  impatient  of 
restraint,  keenly  sensitive  to  honour,  fearless  of  death  and  passion- 
ately fond  of  the  land  that  gave  him  birth."  Brought  before  Berkeley, 
the  choleric  old  cavalier  ordered  him  to  be  hanged.  He  heard  his 
sentence  unmoved,  but  asked  as  "  a  favour  that  he  might  be  shot  like 
a  soldier  and  not  hanged  like  a  dog."  "  You  die  as  a  rebel,  not  as  a 
soldier !"  was  the  reply.  Reviewing  his  life,  he  professed  repentance 
of  his  sins,  but  would  not  admit  that  his  so-called  rebellion  was  a 
sin ;  and  his  last  words  were,  "  I  die  a  loyal  subject  and  a  lover  of 
my  country." 

Hansford  was  the  first  Virginian  who  died  on  the  gallows ;  the 
first  American  martyr  to  the  popular  cause.  He  was  executed  on  the 
13th  of  November,  1676.  Other  insurgent  leaders  were  taken  ; 
among  the  rest,  Edmund  Cheesman  and  Thomas  Wilford  ;  the  latter, 
the  second  son  of  a  royalist  knight  who  had  died  fighting  for  Charles 
I.,  and  now  a  successful  Virginian  emigrant.  He,  too,  was  hanged. 
Cheesman  was  brought  up  before  the  governor.  "Why  did  you 
engage  in  Bacon's  designs?"  demanded  the  latter.  At  that  instant 
a  young  woman  rushed  forward,  the  wife  of  the  prisoner,  and  reply- 


(1676.)  CRUELTY  OF  GOVERNOR  BERKELEY.  251 

ing  beiore  he  had  time  to  utter  a  word,  exclaimed,  "  My  provocations 
made  my  husband  join  in  Bacon's  cause.  But  for  me  he  would  never 
have  done  it!"  And  then  falling  on  her  knees,  she  added,  "and 
seeing  what  has  been  done  was  through  my  means,  I  am  most  guilty ; 
let  me  be  hanged  and  my  husband  be  pardoned ! " 

The  governor,  incapable  of  feeling  the  devoted  affection  of  this 
noble  woman,  ordered  her  off,  adding  the  grossest  insult  to  his  words. 
Her  husband  died  in  prison  of  ill  usage. 

With  the  success  of  his  party  the  vindictive  passions  of  the  governor 
increased.  Mercy  was  an  unknown  sentiment  to  his  heart,  and  his 
avarice  gratified  itself  by  fines  and  confiscations.  Fearing  the  result 
of  trial  by  jury,  he  resorted  to  courts-martial,  where  the  verdicts 
were  certain  and  severe.  Four  persons  were  thus  hanged  on  one 
occasion.  Drummond  was  seized,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  in  Chicka- 
homony  Swamp,  half  famished,  and  being  stripped  and  put  in  irons, 
was  conveyed  to  Berkeley.  Berkeley,  seeing  him  approach,  hastened 
out  to  meet  him,  and  with  a  bow  of  derision,  saluted  him :  "  Mr. 
Drummond,  you  are  very  welcome ;  I  am  more  glad  to  see  you  than 
any  man  in  Virginia ;  Mr.  Drummond,  you  shall  be  hanged  in  half 
an  hour ! "  "  What  your  honour  pleases,"  replied  the  patriot,  calmly. 
He  was  tried  by  court-inartial,  and  though  he  had  never  held  any 
military  command,  he  was  immediately  condemned ;  and  a  ring  being 
forcibly  torn  from  his  finger,  he  was  executed  within  three  hours. 
The  fate  of  Lawrence  was  never  known  ;  but  report  said  that  he  and 
four  others,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  when  the  snow  was  ankle-deep, 
threw  themselves  into  a  river,  rather  than  perish  like  Drummond. 
The  conduct  of  Berkeley  had  been  that  of  a  dastard  in  the  struggle, 
and  now  his  cruelty  was  that  of  a  fiend.  A  royal  proclamation 
arrived  from  England,  promising  pardon  to  all  but  Bacon.  But  this 
was  utterly  disregarded,  Berkeley,  indeed,  altered  it  to  suit  his  own 
temper,  and  excepted  from  mercy  about  fifty  persons,  among  whom 
was  Sarah  Grindon,  the  wife  of  the  late  attorney.  Twenty-two  were 
hanged  ;  three  died  from  hard  usage  in  prison  ;  three  fled  before  trial, 
and  two  after  conviction. 

In  the  course  of  two  months,  trials  before  the  governor  and 
council,  by  "juries  of  life  and  death,"  were  substituted  instead  of 
courts-martial ;  but  the  result  was  little  different.  Giles  Bland,  who, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

we  may  remember,  endeavoured  to  seize  Laramore's  ship,  was  one  of 
the  first  victims.  It  was  in  vain  that  he  pleaded  the  king's  pardon, 
then  in  the  governor's  pocket.  The  governor  had  condemned  him 
already,  and  he  perished.  Indeed,  "  none  escaped  being  found  guilty, 
condemned,  and  hanged,  who  put  themselves  on  trial."  The  land 
groaned  with  the  excess  of  punishment.  The  very  assembly  itself 
besought  of  the  governor  "  to  desist  from  sanguinary  punishments, 
for  none  could  tell  when  or  where  they  would  cease."  And  when 
executions  ceased,  other  modes  of  punishment  began.  Vast  numbers, 
without  trial,  were  condemned  to  heavy  fines  and  confiscation  of 
property.  Many  were  banished,  their  property  being  forfeited; 
others  were  sentenced  to  beg  pardon  on  their  knees  for  their  lives, 
with  ropes  round  their  necks.  In  some  cases,  where  the  magistrates 
were  inclined  to  leniency,  a  small  tape,  or  "  Manchester  binding,"  as 
it  was  called,  was  allowed  as  a  substitute  for  the  rope ;  but  this,  when 
it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  assembly,  was  censured  as  contempt 
of  authority.  Many  of  the  fines  went  to  the  use  of  the  governor. 

When  the  news  of  these  bloody  doings  reached  London,  Charles, 
who,  with  all  his  faults,  was  not  cruel,  exclaimed  with  indignation, 
"  The  old  fool  has  taken  away  more  lives  in  that  naked  country  than 
I  have  for  the  murder  of  my  father ! "  There  was  some  mercy  in 
England,  though  there  was  none  in  Virginia;  for  when  Sarah 
Drunimond,  on  the  execution  of  her  husband  and  the  confiscation 
of  his  estate  for  the  use  of  the  governor,  was  driven  out,  with 
her  five  small  children,  to  starve  in  the  woods,  she,  like  a  brave- 
hearted  woman,  as  she  was,  having  sent  to  London  a  petition  setting 
forth  the  cruel  treatment  of  her  husband  and  the  destitution  of  her- 
self and  her  children,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Finch  exclaimed — Sir 
William  Berkeley  being  then  dead—"  I  know  not  whether  it  be  law- 
ful to  wish  a  person  alive,  otherwise  I  could  wish  Sir  William 
Berkeley  so,  to  see  what  could  be  answered  to  such  barbarity ;  but  he 
has  answered  that  before  this." 

As  regarded  the  causes  of  this  insurrection  and  the  true  character 
of  its  leaders,  every  possible  means  were  taken  to  veil  them  in 
obscurity,  or  to  throw  disrepute  and  infamy  upon  them.  No  printing- 
press  was  allowed  in  Virginia.  It  was  a  crime  punishable  by  fine  and 
whipping  to  speak  ill  of  Berkeley  and  his  friends,  or  to  write  any- 


(1677.)    DEATH  OF  BERKELEY — EFFECT  OF  BACON'S  REBELLION.  253 

thing  favourable  to  the  rebels  or  the  rebellion.  Every  accurate  account 
remained  in  manuscript  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  :  so  that  the 
struggles  and  sufferings  of  these  unfortunate  patriots  were  for  so 
long  mis  understood  and  cruelly  maligned. 

"  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  rebellion,"  says  the  historian,  "  that 
English  troops  were  first  introduced  into  America.  In  three  years, 
however,  they  were  disbanded,  and  became  amalgamated  with  the  peo- 
ple. Sir  William  Berkeley  returned  to  England  with  the  squadron 
which  brought  out  these  forces,  it  being  necessary  to  justify  his  conduct 
there,  where  the  report  of  his  cruelties  had  excited  a  strong  feeling 
against  him ;  and,  spito  even  of  the  strong  faction  which  adhered  to  his 
principles  in  Virginia,  and  which  had  restored  the  old  order  of  things, 
so  great  was  the  public  joy  at  his  departure,  that  guns  were  fired  and 
bonfires  made.  Arrived  in  England,  he  found  the  public  sentiments 
so  violent  against  him  that  he  died,  it  was  said  of  a  broken  heart,  and 
before  he  had  had  an  opportunity  of  justifying  himself  with  the 
monarch." 

Colonel  Herbert  Jeffreys  was  left  by  Berkeley  as  deputy  in  his 
absence,  and  on  his  death  he  assumed  the  office  of  governor.  The 
results  of  Bacon's  rebellion  were  disastrous  to  Virginia.  This 
insurrection  was  made  a  plea  against  granting  a  more  liberal  charter, 
and  the  restrictions  and  oppressions  under  which  Virginia  had 
groaned  became  only  more  stringent  and  heavy.  All  those  liberal 
measures  which  were  introduced  by  Bacon's  assembly,  and  which 
were  known  under  the  name  of  "  Bacon's  Acts,"  were  annulled  and 
the  former  abuses  returned.  In  vain  were  commissioners  sent  over 
by  the  monarch  to  redress  their  grievances  ;  reports  of  tyranny  and 
rapine  were  received,  but  no  amelioration  of  the  system  which 
permitted  them  was  introduced  ;  "  every  measure  of  effectual  reform 
was  considered  void,  and  every  aristocratic  feature  which  had  been 
introduced  into  the  legislature  was  perpetuated." 

When  Virginia  was  granted  to  the  Lords  Culpepper  and  Arlington, 
the  former  was  appointed  governor  for  life  on  the  demise  of  Berkeley ; 
and  now,  therefore,  this  event  having  taken  place,  it  was  expected 
that  he  should  hasten  to  that  country  to  assume  his  duties.  Willing, 
however,  to  regard  his  appointment  as  a  sinecure,  he  lingered  still  in 
England,  until  reproved  by  Charles  himself  for  negligence,  he 


254  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

embarked  in  1680  for  Virginia,  where  he  arrived  in  May,  and  took 
the  oath  of  office  in  Jamestown.  Culpepper  carried  with  him  what 
was  intended  should  introduce  a  spirit  of  peace  and  satisfaction 
through  the  colony — an  act  of  general  pardon  and  indemnity  under 
the  great  seal,  which  remitted  all  forfeiture  of  estates  in  consequence 
of  the  rebellion,  excepting  in  ten  instances.  Bacon,  Bland  and 
Lawrence  being  among  them.  So  far  was  good;  but  other  acts 
there  were  which  at  the  same  time  caused  general  dissatisfaction  and 
misery.  The  principal  of  these  was,  that  the  impost  of  two  shillings 
on  every  hogshead  of  tabacco  should  be  perpetual,  and  instead  of 
being  accounted  for  to  the  assembly  as  hitherto,  should  be  applied 
as  a  royal  revenue  for  the  support  of  government.  His  own 
salary — as  governor — of  £1,000  he  doubled,  on  the  plea  that,  being  a 
nobleman,  such  increase  was  necessary;  besides  house-rent  and 
perquisites,  amounting  to  nearly  another  thousand.  Not  satisfied 
with  this,  "  he  altered  the  currency,  and  then  disbanding  the  soldiers, 
paid  their  arrears  in  the  new  coin,  greatly  to  his  own  advantage. 
But  shortly  afterwards,  finding  that,  by  the  same  rule,  his  own 
perquisites  wrould  be  deteriorated,  he  restored  it  to  its  former  value." 
Lord  Culpepper  remained  in  Virginia  from  May  to  August,  and 
having  in  these  few  months  sown  the  seed  of  a  plentiful  harvest  of 
sorrow  and  dissatisfaction  for  that  unhappy  country,  returned  to 
England. 

Virginia  was  now  quiet,  but  her  miseries  were  not  at  an  end. 
Large  crops  of  tobacco  were  raised,  and  the  price  sank  far  below  a 
remunerative  scale.  Attempts  were  made  to  plant  towns,  to  pre- 
scribe new  channels  for  commerce,  and  to  introduce  manufactures ; 
but  these  were  not  the  natural  growth  of  the  times  or  the  soil,  and 
trade  was  only  impeded  by  any  laws  to  direct  it.  Tobacco  sank  still 
lower,  and  again  the  scheme  of  the  "  stint,"  or  the  cessation  of  plant- 
ing, was  entertained.  During  two  sessions  the  assembly  endeavoured 
to  legislate  for  these  difficult  circumstances;  but  in  May,  1682,  the 
malcontents  commenced  to  cut  up  the  tobacco-plants,  especially  the 
sweet-scented,  which  was  produced  nowhere  else,  and  to  this  futile 
procedure,  Culpepper,  who  had  now  returned,  put  a  stop  by  measures 
of  great  severity — hanging  the  ringleaders  and  enacting  plant-cutting 
high  treason.  Lord  Culpepper  had  in  the  interim  of  his  absence 


(1682.)  CULPEPPER'S  ADMINISTRATION — VIRGINIAN  SLAVE  CODE.      255 

purchased  the  share  of  Arlington,  and  he  now  returned  to  establish 
his  own  claim  to  the  Northern  Neck.  It  was  vain,  spite  of  the 
injustice  of  the  case,  for  the  holders  of  land  in  this  fine  district  to 
attempt  the  maintenance  of  their  prior  claims ;  nothing  remained  for 
them  but  compromise. 

A  printing-press  was  at  this  time  brought  over  into  Virginia,  by 
John  Buckner,  who  printed  the  enactments  of  the  session ;  but  such 
publicity  was  dreaded.  He  was  called  to  account  by  Culpepper,  and 
forbidden  to  print  anything  until  his  Majesty's  pleasure  should  be 
known  ;  and  the  following  year  any  printing-press  was  forbidden  in 
Virginia,  under  the  royal  authority. 

The  slave-code  received  some  alterations  during  Culpepper's 
government,  which  were  worthy  of  the  remorseless  spirit  of  the  man. 
Slaves  were  forbidden  the  use  of  arms,  or  to  leave  their  masters' 
plantations  without  a  written  pass,  or  to  lift  a  hand  against  a  Chris- 
tian, even  in  self-defence.  Runaways,  who  refused  to  give  themselves 
up,  might  be  lawfully  killed. 

"  All  accounts,"  says  Bancroft,  "  agree  in  describing  the  condition 
of  Virginia  at  this  time  as  one  of  extreme  distress.  Culpepper  had 
no  compassion  for  poverty ;  no  sympathy  for  a  province  impoverished 
by  perverse  legislation ;  and  the  residence  in  Virginia  was  so  irksome, 
that  in  a  few  months  he  again  returned  to  England.  The  council 
reported  the  griefs  and  restlessness  of  the  country,  and  renewed  the 
request  that  the  grant  to  Culpepper  might  be  recalled.  The  poverty 
of  the  province  rendered  negotiation  easy,  and  in  the  following  year 
Virginia  was  once  more  a  royal  province." 

Lord  Howard  of  Effingham  succeeded  Culpepper  as  governor,  but 
the  change  was  hardly  beneficial  to  the  unhappy  province.  Office 
was  only  desirable  to  him  as  a  means  of  making  money.  Nothing 
could  exceed  the  mean  avarice  of  this  man ;  it  became  almost  a 
proverb.  It  is  said  that,  with  an  eye  to  the  fees,  he  established  a 
Court  of  Chancery,  claiming,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  to  be  sole 
judge. 

The  accession  of  James  II.  produced  no  change  in  the  state  of 
Virginia ;  but  the  suppression  of  Monmouth's  rebellion  sent  over  to 
her  a  number  of  truly  noble,  though  involuntary  exiles.  These  were 
the  men  who,  by  sentence  of  the  infamous  judge  Jefferies,  were  con- 


256  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

demned  to  transportation,  and  sent  over  for  sale  to  the  labour-market 
of  the  American  colonies.  The  courtiers  of  James  rejoiced  in  this 
harvest  of  biood;  and  Virginia,  smarting  from  her  own  wounds, 
received  the  exiles  with  mercy.  These  political  convicts  were,  many 
of  them,  men  of  family  and  superior  education,  accustomed  to  the 
conveniences  and  elegancies  of  life;  and,  as  regarded  them,  the 
government  of  Virginia  received  injunctions,  under  the  signature  of 
the  monarch  ,•  "  take  care,"  said  they,  "  that  these  convicted  persons 
continue  to  serve  for  ten  years  at  least,  and  that  they  be  not  permitted, 
in  any  manner,  to  redeem  themselves  by  money  or  otherwise  until 
that  time  be  fully  expired.  Prepare  a  bill  for  the  assembly  of  our 
colony  with  such  clauses  as  shall  be  requisite  for  this  purpose."  But 
Virginia  had  suffered  too  much  not  to  sympathise  with  her  noble 
transports.  She  had  no  wish  to  make  the  yoke  of  their  suffering 
any  heavier.  In  December,  1689,  the  exiles  were  pardoned.  America, 
in  every  one  of  her  colonies,  was  benefited  by  the  intolerance  and  the 
oppressions  of  Europe.  Hence  she  derived  her  best  population ; 
hence  her  clear  instinct  of  liberty,  and  the  courage  and  energy  which 
bore  her  through  the  struggle  for  its  attainment. 

In  the  fourth  year  of  James  II.,  "  the  Northern  Neck  was  assigned 
to  Culpepper,  with  many  privileges,  on  account  of  the  loyal  services 
of  his  family.  The  only  daughter  and  heiress  of  Lord  Culpepper, 
marrying  Lord  Fairfax,  this  splendid  territory  came  into  his  hands." 

The  state  of  Virginia  did  not  improve  under  James  II. ;  and  so 
oppressive  was  the  government  found  to  be,  that  the  first  assembly 
convened  after  his  accession,  called  in  question  the  monarch's  right 
to  negative  such  of  their  proceedings  as  did  not  meet  with  his 
approbation ;  the  king  was  displeased,  and  censured  "  the  disaffected 
and  unjust  disposition  of  the  members,  and  their  irregular  and  tumul- 
tuous proceedings."  The  assembly  was  dissolved  by  royal  proclama- 
tion, and  James  Collins  loaded  with  irons  and  impiisoned  for  treason- 
able expressions.  But  the  council  stood  firm  to  their  principles  of 
obedience  and  conformity,  and  pledged  themselves  to  bring  the  state 
to  submission.  Beverley,  a  royalist  and  former  adherent  of  Berkeley's, 
and  for  a  long  time  clerk  of  the  assembly,  in  whose  soul  the  despo- 
tism of  the  time  seems  to  have  called  forth  a  germ  of  liberty,  fell 
under  the  strong  resentment  of  the  king ;  and  being  disfranchised, 


(1683.)  SPIRIT   OF  THE   VIRGINIANS  IN    1688.  257 

and  a  prosecution  commenced  against  him,  he  died  soon  afterwards,  a 
martyr  to  those  very  principles  for  which  Bacon  had  struggled,  and 
which  he  then  had  opposed. 

The  principles  of  Bacon  indeed  were,  under  the  severity  of  the 
present  rule,  becoming  the  principles  of  the  whole  of  Virginia,  as  the 
noblest  essences  are  only  brought  out  by  extreme  pressure.  The 
measures  of  the  king  for  the  erection  of  forts  for  the  defence  of  the 
colony  were  very  coolly  received.  The  spirit  of  the  colony  was  shown 
by  the  new  assembly,  which  was  now,  in  1688,  convened,  and  for 
the  turbulent  and  unmanageable  disposition  of  which,  it  was  very 
soon  dissolved  by  the  council.  Discussion,  so  long  fettered,  once 
more  asserted  its  liberty ;  the  scattered  dwellers  along  the  river 
banks  passed  from  house  to  house  the  kindling  cry  of  liberty.  The 
whole  colony  was  about  to  rise  once  more  ;  and  Effingham,  alarmed 
at  the  position  of  affairs,  hastened  to  England,  followed  by  Philip 
Ludwell,  as  his  accuser  in  the  name  of  the  people.  During  his 
absence,  Nathaniel  Bacon,  the  elder,  president  of  the  council,  assumed 
the  temporary  administration.  But  before  either  the  accused  or  the 
accuser  reached  the  English  shores,  James  had  abdicated,  and  that 
Revolution  had  taken  place,  which  for  the  moment  cast  the  affairs 
of  Virginia  into  the  shade. 


258  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

MARYLAND  UNDER  CHARLES  II. 

WITH  the  Restoration  Maryland  became  once  more  a  proprietary 
government.  Philip  Calvert  assumed  the  administration  as  deputy 
of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  clemency  drawing  a  veil  over  late  offences, 
the  colony  enjoyed  tranquillity.  The  spirit  of  Lord  Baltimore  was 
broad  and  tolerant ;  a  large  benevolence  marks  his  legislation  ;  and 
the  persecuted  and  the  outcast  had  ever  a  secure  home  in  his  province. 
"  From  France  came  Huguenots ;  from  Germany,  from  Holland, 
from  Sweden,  from  Finland,  from  Piedmont,  came  the  children  of 
misfortune,  to  seek  protection  under  the  tolerant  sceptre  of  the 
Roman  Catholic.  Bohemia  itself,  the  country  of  Jerome  and  Huss, 
sent  forth  its  sons,  who  at  once  were  made  citizens  of  Maryland  with 
equal  franchises."  * 

Though  Maryland  in  many  respects  resembled  Virginia,  yet  in 
others  she  was  strikingly  different.  The  spirit  of  her  people  was 
more  active  and  enterprising,  and  hence,  availing  herself  of  her  sea- 
coast,  her  traffic  at  this  time  was  not  inconsiderable. 

In  1662,  Charles,  the  eldest  son  of  Lord  Baltimore,  took  up  his 
residence  in  the  colony  as  governor.  Misunderstandings  with  the 
Indians  were  adjusted,  and  the  colony  gradually  extended.  The 
Navigation  Act,  however,  pressed  heavily  upon  its  commerce ;  Dutch 
vessels  could  no  longer  export  its  tobacco  to  Europe  ;  and  following 
the  example  of  Virginia,  a  tax  of  2s.  per  hogshead  was  laid  on  all 
exported  tobacco,  one-half  to  serve  as  a  colonial  revenue  for  govern- 
mental purposes,  and  the  other  as  a  revenue  for  the  proprietary — an 

*  Bancroft. 


(1671.)          LORD  BALTIMORE'S  BENEFITS  TO  MARYLAND.  259 

- 
arrangement  which  is  said  to  have  been  advantageous  to  the  colony, 

•while  it  was  equally  so  to  Lord  Baltimore. 

Maryland,  like  Virginia,  under  these  restrictive  commercial  laws, 
suffered  from  the  over-production  of  tobacco,  and  black  slaves,  as  being 
cheaper,  were  preferred  to  white  labourers ;  an  act,  therefore,  was 
passed  in  1671,  for  encouraging  the  importation  of  negroes,  which  in 
consequence  of  the  interrupted  trade  with  Holland  had  now  almost 
ceased. 

Lord  Baltimore,  by  his  prudence,  moderation  and  wisdom,  had 
been  by  far  the  most  successful  of  all  proprietary  governors ;  and 
now  in  his  old  age  he  began  to  reap  a  rich  harvest,  not  only  of 
honour  and  respect,  but  of  wealth,  from  the  colony  "  which  he  had 
planted  in  his  youth,  and  which  crowned  his  old  age  with  gratitude." 
One  thing  only  Lord  Baltimore  failed  in,  and  this  was  an  acknow- 
ledgment of  those  principles  of  popular  liberty  and  popular  rights 
which  were  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Anglo-American 
colonies.  The  leaven,  however,  was  already  working  in  Maryland 
under  the  paternal  sway  of  Lord  Baltimore,  and  nothing  but  his  own 
virtues  prevented  it  effectually  leavening  the  whole  lump. 

At  the  death  of  Lord  Baltimore,  after  a  supremacy  of  forty-three 
years,  Maryland  contained  ten  counties,  five  on  either  side  of  the 
Chesapeake,  and  about  16,000  inhabitants,  the  greater  number  of 
whom  were  Protestants.  There  was  no  established  church  in  Mary- 
land, either  Catholic  or  Episcopal.  The  latter,  however,  had  a  strong 
hankering  after  this  state  of  privilege,  and  one  of  the  clergy  appealed 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  regarding  their  forlorn  condition ; 
"  the  priests,"  said  he,  "  are  provided  for ;  the  Quakers  take  care  of 
their  own  speakers  ;  but  no  care  is  taken  to  build  up  churches  in  the 
protestant  religion." 

Yet  though  the  Quakers  maintained  their  own  preachers,  and  as  a 
religious  sect,  spite  of  all  their  "  abominable  heresies,"  were  tolerated 
in  Maryland,  yet  they  were  not  safe  even  here  from  suffering,  but 
that  for  civil,  rather  than  religious  causes.  Until  the  year  1688,  the  era 
of  great  revolutions,  the  Quakers  were  liable  to  fines  and  imprison- 
ment, from  their  refusal  to  perform  military  duties  and  to  take  an 
oath.  Otherwise  the  Quaker  was  warmly  welcomed.  The  scattered 
dwellers  in  the  wilderness,  and  on  the  banks  of  the  Maryland  rivers, 


260  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

opened  their  souls  to  "  the  truth  "  as  promulgated  by  George  Fox  and 
his  friends ;  their  simple  hearts  were  as  good  soil  into  which  the 
seed  of  the  spirit  fell  and  brought  forth  abundantly.  Many  a 
"  heavenly  meeting  "  had  George  Fox  in  this  friendly  colony.  "  His 
landing  in  the  country,"  he  says,  "  was  so  ordered  by  the  good  provi- 
dence of  God,  that  he  arrived  just  in  time  to  be  present  at  a  farewell 
meeting  which  was  held  by  John  Burneyate,  before  his  setting  sail  for 
old  England.  And  a  very  large  meeting  this  was,  and  held  four 
days,  to  which  came  many  of  the  world's  people,  five  or  six  justices 
of  the  peace,  a  speaker  of  the  assembly,  a  member  of  the  council,  and 
divers  others  of  note."  And  not  alone  did  "  the  world's  people  "  listen 
with  joy  to  this  "  minister  of  the  truth,  but  the  emperor  or  sagamore  of 
the  Indians,  and  his  subordinate  chieftains,  after  a  great  debate  with  his 
council,  came  to  hear  him,  and  listened  in  the  evening  to  that  which 
he  had  to  say  to  them  from  the  Lord,  and  which  he  enjoined  them  to 
convey  to  their  people,"  and  "  they,  carrying  themselves  courteously 
and  lovingly  inquired,  where  the  next  meeting  would  be,  for  that 
they  would  attend  it."  As  in  Carolina  and  Virginia,  we  have  many 
a  graphic  picture  of  the  life  of  the  settlers  in  the  wilderness ;  of  the 
stranger  travelling  through  woods  and  bogs,  sleeping  out  at  night,  or 
being  hospitably  entertained  at  some  lonely  dwelling,  where  "  huge 
dogs"  gave  the  first  notice  of  their  approach;  or  after  having 
travelled  all  day  through  the  woods,  and  seen  "  neither  man  nor 
woman,  house  nor  dwelling-place,  of  their  being  lovingly  entertained 
by  some  Indian  king,  who  spread  mats  for  them  to  lie  on  by  the  fire  of 
their  wigwam,  and  made  the  strangers  welcome  to  their  small  store 
of  provisions."  Again  we  see  George  Fox  and  his  friends  on  their 
way  to  some  great  meeting,  rowing  in  boats,  "  there  being  so  many 
boats  on  the  river  at  that  time  that  it  was  almost  like  the  Thames, 
there  never  having  been  seen  before  so  many  together  at  one  time  ; " 
a  thousand  coming  to  the  meeting  at  once,  so  that  "  never  before  war 
there  seen  such  a  concourse  of  people  together, — people  of  the  world, 
protestants  of  divers  sorts,  and  some  papists  ;  and  among  them  magis- 
trates and  their  wives,  and  other  people  of  chief  account  in  the 
country,  and  of  common  people  a  great  many."  These  large  meet- 
ings, which  would  last  for  four  or  five  days,  must  have  resembled  the 
revivals  and  camp-meetings  of  later  days. 


(1676.)      EXTRAORDINARY  ADVENTURE  OF  JOHN  JAY.          201 

It  was  on  an  occasion  of  this  kind,  when  travelling  to  a  meeting 
with  his  friend,  "  that  an  accident  befell,  which,  for  the  time,  was  a 
great  exercise  "  to  them.  "  One  John  Jay,  a  friend,  of  Barbadoes, 
was  intending  to  accompany  us,"  says  George  Fox,  "  through  the 
woods  to  Maryland  ;  and  he  being  to  try  a  horse,  got  upon  his  back, 
and  he  fell  a  running,  and  cast  him  down  upon  his  head,  and  broke 
his  neck,  as  the  people  said.  They  that  came  near  him  took  him  up 
for  dead,  and  carried  him  a  good  way  and  laid  him  on  a  tree.  I  got 
to  him  as  soon  as  I  could,  and  feeling  of  him,  concluded  him  to  be 
dead.  And  as  I  stood  by  him,  pitying  him  and  his  family,  I  took 
hold  of  his  hair,  and  his  head  turned  anyway,  his  neck  was  so  limber. 
Whereupon,  throwing  away  my  stick  and  my  gloves,  I  put  one  hand 
under  his  chin  and  the  other  behind  his  head,  and  raised  his  head 
two  or  three  times  with  all  my  strength,  and  brought  it  in.  I  soon 
perceived  that  the  neck  was  right ;  he  began  to  rattle  in  the  throat, 
and  soon  after  to  breathe.  The  people  were  amazed,  but  I  bid  them 
have  a  good  heart  and  be  of  good  faith  and  carry  him  into  the  house. 
They  did  so,  and  set  him  by  the  fire ;  but  I  bid  them  get  him  some 
warm  thing  to  drink  and  put  him  to  bed.  After  he  had  been  in  the 
house  awhile,  he  began  to  speak,  but  did  not  know  where  he  had 
been.  The  next  day  we  passed  away,  and  he  with  us,  about  sixteen 
miles,  to  a  meeting,  through  woods  and  bogs,  and  over  a  river,  where 
we  swam  our  horses,  and  got  over  ourselves  upon  a  hollow  tree ;  and 
many  hundreds  of  miles  did  he  travel  with  us  after  this." 

But  we  must  now  leave  George  Fox  and  his  friends,  and  return  to 
the  affairs  of  Maryland. 

On  the  death  of  Lord  Baltimore,  in  1676,  his  son  and  successor  to 
his  title,  who  had  now  successfully  administered  the  government  of 
the  colony  for  fourteen  years,  returned  to  England,  leaving  Thomas 
Notley  as  his  deputy.  During  his  administration  the  whole  code  of 
laws  had  been  revised,  and  the  act  of  toleration,  which  from  the  first 
had  made  Maryland  so  honourable,  was  confirmed.  But  spite  of  this 
careful  provision  for  the  exercise  of  the  broad  spirit  of  religion, 
scarcely  had  Lord  Baltimore  arrived  in  England  when  he  was  called 
to  account  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  in  whose  diocese  the  colonies 
were  supposed  to  lie,  for  the  neglect  of  religion  in  his  province. 
The  bishop  was  seconded  by  the  king  and  his  ministers,  who  were 


262  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

determined  that  the  English  episcopal  church  should  be  dominant  in 
Maryland  as  it  was  in  Virginia.  This  party  at  home  strengthened 
the  party  of  the  ultra-Protestants  in  the  colony,  who  had  long  been 
dissatisfied  with  their  non-privileged  position.  Besides  this,  the 
recent  insurrectionary  movements  in  Virginia  were  not  without  their 
influence  on  the  neighbour  state ;  and  Fendall,  the  former  governor, 
"a  man  well-experienced  in  commotions,"  headed  the  disaffected 
Episcopalians,  and  the  authority  of  Lord  Baltimore,  a  "  papist  pro- 
prietary," was  called  in  question.  Lord  Baltimore  hastened  back, 
and  order  was  soon  re-established.  Fendall  was  tried,  found  guilty 
of  sedition,  and  banished.  But  Baltimore  now  was  not  at  liberty  to 
govern  his  province  in  his  own  way.  Having  been  accused,  though 
apparently  without  cause,  of  favour  towards  Papists,  the  English 
ministry  soon  interfered,  and  an  order  was  issued,  that  "  all  offices  of 
government  should  be  intrusted  exclusively  to  Protestants."  Catho- 
lics were  excluded  from  office  in  the  very  colony  which  they  had 
planted. 

Lord  Baltimore's  hold  on  Maryland  was  being  loosened  now  on  all 
hands.  The  colonists,  among  whom  the  doctrine  of  civil  equality  was 
deep-rooted,  called  in  question  the  authority  of  an  hereditaiy  proprie- 
tary ;  and  the  partisans  of  the  English  church,  whose  monarchical 
principles  might  otherwise  have  found  no  stumbling-block  in  that 
circumstance,  became  his  violent  opponents  as  a  Papist.  Another 
cause  too  existed,  which  affected  Lord  Baltimore  unfortunately  in 
his  relationship  with  England.  In  attempting  "  to  modify  the 
unhappy  effects  of  the  Navigation  Laws  on  colonial  industry,  he  had 
become  involved  in  opposition  to  the  commercial  policy  of  England. 
A  formidable  adversary  was  thus  raised  ;  the  Governor  of  Virginia 
was  made  superintendent  of  the  custom-house  officers  of  Maryland. 
This  led  to  great  dissatisfaction ;  quarrels  and  bloodshed  ensued ; "" 
and  the  blame  of  all,  one  way  or  another,  was  laid  on  Lord  Bal- 
timore. 

The  accession  of  a  catholic  monarch  in  England  might  be  considered 
as  a  favourable  auspice  for  a  catholic  proprietary.  But  no !  William 
Penn,  the  Quaker,  found  favour  with  James,  when  Lord  Baltimore 
found  none.  The  Catholic  was  even  obliged  to  relinquish  to  the 
Dissenter  half  the  peninsula  between  the  Chesapeake  and  Delaware, 


(1688.)  THE    LIBERTIES   OP  MARYLAND   THREATENED.  2d3 

besides  "a  wide  strip  along  the  northern  limit  of  his  province." 
Nor  was  that  all.  The  charter  of  Maryland  was  threatened.  A 
writ  of  quo  warranto  was  issued  against  it,  and  Lord  Baltimore 
hastened  to  England  to  maintain  his  rights.  But  hefore  the  legal 
process  by  which  they  were  invaded  was  ended  King  James  himself 
was  dethroned. 


264:  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  NEW  JERSEY. — THE  QUAKERS. 

Two  months  before  the  surrender  of  New  Netherlands  to  the  English, 
the  Duke  of  York  made  over  the  land  embraced  by  his  patent,  lying 
between  the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware,  to  Lord  Berkeley  and  Sir 
George  Carteret,  both  proprietaries  of  Carolina.  In  compliment  to 
Sir  George  Carteret,  who,  as  governor  of  the  Isle  of  Jersey,  had  been 
the  last  commander  to  lower  the  royal  flag  in  the  civil  wars,  this 
territory  was  called  New  Jersey. 

The  proprietaries  immediately  published  terms  of  colonisation,  or, 
as  they  called  them,  "  concessions,"  offering  fifty  acres  of  land  to  each 
settler,  and  the  same  quantity  for  each  servant  or  slave,  at  a  quit-rent 
of  one-halfpenny  per  acre,  and  the  same  to  all  indented  servants  at 
the  expiration  of  their  term  of  servitude.  No  quit-rent,  however, 
was  to  be  demanded  until  1670. 

Already  in  1663,  before  this  grant  to  Berkeley  and  Carteret  was 
known,  several  puritan  families  from  Long  Island  had  purchased  a 
considerable  tract  of  country  from  the  Indians  and  formed  a  settle- 
ment on  Newark  Bay.  A  few  Swedish  farmers  also  remained  scat- 
tered here  and  there,  besides  old  Dutch  settlers,  all  considering  them- 
selves legalised  possessors  of  their  land.  When,  therefore,  two  years 
afterwards,  Sir  Philip  Carteret  arrived  as  proprietary  governor,  he 
found  sturdy  settlers  ready  and  resolved  to  oppose  his  claims  to  their 
portion  of  the  soil ;  hence  much  discord  and  difficulty  arose. 

The  only  Indian  inhabitants  of  New  Jersey  were  tribes  of  the 
Delaware,  the  most  peaceful  of  all  the  aborigines,  and  who  readily 
conceded  their  claims  to  the  country  on  very  easy  terms  to  the 
settlers,  As  regards  this  Delaware  portion  of  the  Indian  people,  so 


(16G5.)  LEGEND   RESPECTING   THE   DELAWAEES.  265 

different  in  character  to  all  the  other  tribes,  we  must  be  allowed  a 
moment's  interruption  to  relate  how,  according  to  their  own  tradition, 
this  difference  arose.  It  appears  that,  in  old  times,  long  and 
grievous  wars  were  carried  on  between  the  Iroquois  and  the  Dela- 
wares,  until  both  nations  were  in  danger  of  annihilation.  On  this 
the  Iroquois  sent  to  the  D.elawares,  saying,  "it  is  not  profitable 
that  all  nations  should  be  at  war  with  each  other,  or  this  will  at 
length  cause  the  ruin  of  the  whole  Indian  race.  We  have,  there- 
fore, considered  a  remedy.  One  nation  shall  be  the  WOMAN.  She 
shall  make  no  war,  but  she  shall  speak  words  of  peace,  to  heal  the 
disputes  of  those  who  are  walking  in  foolish  ways.  The  men  then 
shall  hear  and  obey  the  woman."  The  Delawares  consented  to  this 
remedy.  A  council  was  called,  and  again  the  Iroquois  spoke : 
"We  dress  you  in  the  woman's  long  habit;  we  give  you  oil  and 
medicines,  and  a  plant  of  Indian  corn,  with  a  hoe.  To  your  care 
we  commit  the  great  belt  of  peace  and  chain  of  friendship." 

But  even  if  this  tradition  may  be  fiction,  it  nevertheless  is  well 
known  that  the  Delawares  were  greatly  respected  and  honoured  by 
many  tribes,  and  that  the  term  "  grandfather  "  was  applied  to  them, 
though  grandmother,  one  would  think,  would  have  been  more  appro- 
priate. This  assumed  relationship,  however,  may  have  reference  to 
the  good  Delaware  sagamore,  Tamenend,  who  lived  in  their  tradition 
as  King  Arthur  in  ours. 

Philip  Carteret  landed  at  the  settlement  on  Newark  Bay,  to  which 
the  name  of  Elizabeth  town,  in  honour  of  Lady  Carteret,  the  wife  of 
the  proprietary,  was  given,  and  which  was  established  as  the  seat  of 
government.  Wishing  to  attract  steady  settlers  from  the  New 
England  colonies,  Carteret  announced  that  "puritan  liberties  were 
warranted  a  shelter  on  the  Karitan  ; "  and  an  association  of  church- 
members  from  New  Haven  emigrated  thither  immediately.  "  With 
one  heart  they  resolved  to  carry  on  their  spiritual  and  town  afMrs 
according  to  godly  government,"  and  proceeded  to  elect  officers 
among  themselves,  excluding  all  from  political  rights  who  could  not 
claim  church-membership.  This,  though  not  in  accordance  with  the 
intentions  of  the  proprietary,  was  not  interfered  with.  Emigrants 
were  attracted,  not  only  from  New  England,  but  from  Great  Britain. 
The  climate  was  mild  and  salubrious ;  the  soil  fertile ;  and  the 
VOL.  I.  12 


266  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

vicinity  of  the  older  settlements  prevented  the  danger  of  distress  to 
which  earlier  settlers  were  exposed;  besides  which,  no  hostility  was 
to  be  feared  from  the  peaceful  natives.  A  combination  of  circum- 
stances thus  rendered  New  Jersey  especially  promising  for  colonisa- 
tion. 

All  went  well  till  1670,  when  the  demand  for  quit-rent  would  com- 
mence. The  first  settlers  claimed  exemption  on  the  plea  of  having 
purchased  their  lands  prior  to  the  Duke  of  York's  grant,  from  the 
natives,  whose  right  to  the  soil  was  stronger  than  that  of  any  English 
monarch  whatever.  So  urged  the  earlier  settlers,  and  many  of  the 
later  ones  set  up  the  same  plea,  and  the  payment  of  quit-rent  was 
refused.  Disorder  and  disaffection  prevailed,  and  that  to  so  great  an 
extent  that,  in  1672,  Philip  Carteret  was  deposed,  and  James  Carteret, 
a  frivolous  young  man,  the  natural  son  of  the  proprietary,  was  elected 
in  his  place. 

Opposition  was  vain.  Governor  Carteret  hastened  to  London, 
leaving  John  Berry  as  his  deputy.  The  proprietaries  determined  to 
bring  the  colony  to  order,  remodelled  their  "  concessions,"  and 
abridged  the  power  of  the  people.  The  Duke  of  York  expressed  his 
dissatisfaction,  and  the  king  fixed  a  time  within  which  the  quit-rent 
should  be  paid.  But  other  changes  were  at  hand,  which  now  for  the 
moment  turn  our  attention  again  to  New  York. 

The  settlers  of  New  Netherlands  had  very  willingly  placed  them- 
selves under  British  rule,  in  the  hope  of  advantages  which  would 
thence  accrue,  but  $ie  new  government  conceded  very  little  to  the 
province.  The  governor,  and  the  council  of  his  own  appointment, 
were  possessed  of  the  executive  and  higher  judicial  power;  of  popular 
rights  there  were  none.  Once  only  an  assembly  was  held  at  Hemp- 
stead,  on  Long  Island;  but  the  governor,  finding  that  "factious 
republicans  "  abounded,  held  no  second. 

In  1667,  Nichols  retired  from  office,  and  was  succeeded  as  governor 
by  Lord  Lovelace.  If  Nichols'  administration  had  been  unsatisfactory, 
that  of  his  successor  was  still  more  so.  The  veiy  Swedes  and  Finns, 
said  to  be  the  most  patient  of  all  emigrants,  were  roused  to  resistance. 
Lord  Lovelace's  system  of  government  may  be  comprised  in  his  own 
words :  "  the  method  for  keeping  the  people  in  order  is  severity,  and 
laying  on  such  taxes  as  may  give  them  liberty  for  no  thought  but  how 


(1673.)    DESPOTIC  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  DUKE  OF  YOKK.       267 

to  discharge  them."  An  arbitrary  tax  was  therefore  imposed  of  ten 
per  cent,  on  all  exports  and  imports.  This  roused  the  colony,  which, 
by  its  now  eight  established  towns,  protested  against  the  imposition 
of  taxes  by  the  governor  and  council,  they  themselves  having  no  voice 
whatever  in  the  matter;  but  their  protest  was  called  "scandalous, 
illegal,  and  seditious,"  and  ordered  to  be  burnt  by  the  common  hang- 
man before  the  town-house  of  New  York. 

The  government  of  the  Duke  of  York  was  hated  for  its  despotism, 
and  the  contempt  and  disregard  which  it  ever  showed  towards  the 
popular  interest;  when,  therefore,  in  1673,  war  broke  out  again 
between  England  and  Holland,  the  first  opportunity  was  taken  to 
surrender  to  its  former  possessors.  Lovelace,  who  was  absent  at  the 
time  of  the  surrender,  was  sent  to  England  in  the  Dutch  fleet.  "The 
colonists  for  the  most  part,"  says  Hildreth,  "  were  not  greatly  dis- 
satisfied with  the  change.  The  local  magistrates  on  Long  Island  mostly 
swore  allegiance  to  the  Dutch.  The  people  of  New  Jersey,  where  a 
government  could  hardly  yet  be  said  to  exist,  were  prompt  to  follow 
the  example,  as  were  also  the  settlements  on  the  Delaware.  For  a 
moment  the  province  of  New  Netherlands  revived."  But  only,  as  it 
were,  for  a  moment;  in  fifteen  months  the  re- establishment  of  peace 
restored  the  possession  of  New  York  to  the  English. 

The  duke,  having  obtained  from  his  brother  a  new  grant,  sent  out 
Major  Edmund  Andros  as  governor;  and  the  Dutch  authorities  quietly 
surrendered  the  province  once  more.  The  inhabitants  prayed  to  have 
an  assembly,  but  their  prayer  was  not  granted,  though  some  conces- 
sions were  allowed.  Nor  was  the  desire  of  the  three  eastern  towns  of 
Long  Island  to  be  permitted  still  to  remain  attached  to  Connecticut, 
indulged.  They  were  severed  from  that  province,  and  a  claim  was 
put  forth  by  New  York  for  the  whole  territory  as  far  as  Connecticut 
River.  This,  however,  was  so  stoutly  resisted  by  the  troops  sent  out 
under  Captain  Bull,  at  Saybrook,  when  Andros  appeared  there  with 
several  sloops  of  war,  intending  to  enforce  his  purpose,  that  he  finally 
abandoned  the  attempt,  remarking  jocularly,  that  such  a  Bull  as  had 
there  met  him  deserved  to  have  his  horns  tipped  with  gold.  But 
though  defeated  in  this  instance,  he  was  more  successful  with  regard 
to  the  territory  lying  between  the  Kennebec  and  the  Penobscot, 
which,  during  the  Dutch  supremacy,  had  been  held  by  Massachusetts, 


2QQ  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATF8. 

and  now  was  reclaimed  by  Andros.  "Exclusive  of  this  district  of 
Sagadahoc,  and  of  the  settlements  west  of  the  Delaware,  consisting  of 
two  Dutch  and  two  Swedish  villages,  and  the  islands  of  Nantucket 
and  Martha's  Vineyard,  now  called  Duke's  County,  the  province  of 
New  York  contained  twenty-four  towns  and  villages,  of  which  the 
sixteen  on  Long  Island  were  arranged  in  three  counties.  The  city  of 
New  York,  at  that  time  far  inferior  to  Boston,  had  about  350  houses, 
and  some  3,000  inhabitants.  The  very  centre  of  the  present  city  was 
a  farm,  which  had  been  the  company's  and  was  now  the  duke's.  The 
entire  population  of  the  province  amounted  perhaps  to  12,000  or 
15.000.  The  value  of  the  annual  exports  was  about  £50,000.  The 
exports  were  wheat,  tobacco,  beef,  pork,  horses,  lumber,  and  peltry. 
The  mercantile  fleet  counted  three  ships,  eight  sloops,  and  seven  boats. 
Even  on  tiie  island  of  Manhattan  agriculture  was  the  chief  occupation. 
The  manners  of  the  people  were  simple.  There  were  few  servants, 
and  very  few  slaves ;  yet  the  distinction  of  ranks,  especially  among  the 
Dutch,  was  very  marked.  There  was  no  good  will  between  the  Dutch 
inhabitants  and  the  immigrants  from  New  England ;  and  the  English 
towns  on  Long  Island  still  cherished  the  hope  of  being  restored  to 
Connecticut,  in  whose  popular  institutions  they  longed  to  share."  * 

We  now  return  to  New  Jersey,  which,  on  the  ratification  of  peace 
between  England  and  Holland,  again  reverted  to  the  English  pro- 
prietaries. Berkeley,  however,  sold  his  share  for  £1,000  to  John 
Fenwick  and  Edward  Byllinge,  both  Quakers.  The  Quakers,  holding 
opinions  in  advance  of  their  age,  and  carrying  out  those  opinions  into 
practice,  were  persecuted  everywhere,  more  or  less,  in  the  New  World 
as  in  the  Old ;  and  now,  therefore,  that  they  numbered  among  tbeir 
brethren  men  of  wealth  and  influence,  they  purchased  for  themselves 
a  district  where  "  Friends  "  might  find  a  safe  asylum,  and  the  "  Holy 
Experiment  of  a  Christian  commonwealth  might  be  tried." 

The  "  Holy  Experiment "  of  the  Quakers,  and  the  "  Grand  Model 
Constitution"  of  Locke  and  Shaftesbury,  were  two  extremes.  In  them 
intellectual  pride  and  worldly  wisdom  were  exhibited  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other  the  philosophy  of  Christianity.  The  quakerism  of 
Fox  arid  Penn  and  Barclay  was  simply  Christianity  as  Christ  and 

*  Hildreth. 


(1673.)  THE  QUAKERS  AND  THEIR  CREED.  269 

the  apostles  promulgated  it ;  it  was  that  wisdom  and  truth  which 
ancient  philosophers,  sages  and  poets  of  all  nations  acknowledged  and 
sought  after,  and  which  modern  philosophers  and  poets — Descartes  and 
Bacon  and  Coleridge  and  Wordsworth  and  Emerson — have  taught, 
and  are  teaching,  and  to  which  the  present  age  is  listening  and 
growing  wiser  by  so  doing.  But  quakerism  rose  in  an  age  of  excite- 
ment, and  the  absurdities  and  extravagances  of  fanaticism  threw  a 
disrepute  over  the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  the  doctrines  which  it 
taught,  and  which  its  disciples  were  ready  to  seal  with  their  blood. 
Of  all  sects  who  have  arisen  since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  none  com- 
prehended the  enlightening  and  ennobling  truths  of  Christianity  so 
fully  as  the  Quakers.  None  comprehended  Christianity  in  its  broad 
universality  as  they.  The  "light  and  the  truth,"  which  they  declared 
were  like  God's  natural  gifts  of  air  and  sunshine,  given  to  all  alike, 
rich  or  poor,  bond  or  free,  learned  or  unlearned,  Christian  or  savage, 
man  or  woman, — were  the  immortal  prerogatives  of  humanity.  In 
this  doctrine  of  the  universality  of  the  "inner  light,"  the  Quaker 
regarded  all  men  as  equal  by  creation.  "  God  discovers  himself  to 
every  man,"  says  Penn ; — "  every  mortal  truth  exists  in  every  man's 
and  woman's  heart  as  an  incorruptible  seed,"  says  Barclay.  "  The 
Bible  alone,  the  Quaker  maintained,  only  enlightened  those  to  whom 
it,  was  conveyed ;  but  the  whole  human  race  was  illumined  by  this 
inner  light.  It  was  ever  present  in  the  human  breast,  to  wari^  to 
counsel  and  to  console.  The  inner  light  shed  its  blessings  on  woman 
equally  with  man."  "  It  redeems  her  by  the  dignity  of  her  moral 
nature,  and  claims  for  her  the  equal  culture  and  the  free  exercise  of 
her  endowments.  Woman  is  man's  companion,  according  to  the 
Quaker,  in  his  intellectual  and  moral  advancement;  woman,  as  a 
human  being,  has  equal  rights  with  man." 

All  men,  the  Quaker  argues,  are  equal ;  and  he  bows  not  down  to 
his  fellow-man,  but  to  God  alone,  and  says  fhee  and  thou  to  all,  nor 
uncovers  his  head  in  token  of  obeisance  to  any. 

"  George  Fox  declares,"  says  Bancroft,  in  his  able  summary  of 
quakerism,  "  that  he  saw  his  doctrine  in  the  pure  openings  of  light 
without  the  help  of  any  man.  But  the  spirit  that  made  to  him  the 
revelation  was  the  invisible  spirit  of  the  age,  rendered  wise  by 
tradition,  and  in  a  season  of  revolution  excited  by  the  enthusiasm  oi 


270  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

liberty  and  religion.  There  is  a  close  analogy  between  the  popular 
revolutions  of  France  and  England.  In  France  the  same  symbols  and 
principles  reappeared,  but  more  rapidly,  and  on  a  wider  theatre.  The 
elements  of  humanity  are  always  the  same.  The  inner  light  dawns 
upon  every  nation,  and  is  the  same  in  every  age ;  and  the  French 
Revolution  was  a  result  of  the  same  principles  as  these  of  George  Fox 
gaining  dominion  over  the  mind  of  Europe.  They  are  expressed  in 
the  burning  and  often  profound  eloquence  of  Rousseau ;  they  reappear 
in  the  masculine  philosophy  of  Kant. 

"Everywhere  in  Europe  were  the  Quakers  persecuted.  In  England, 
the  general  law  against  Dissenters,  the  statute  against  Papists,  and 
special  statutes  against  themselves,  put  them  at  the  mercy  of  any 
malignant  informer.  They  were  hated  by  the  church  and  by  the 
Presbyterians,  by  the  peers  and  by  the  king.  During  the  Long  Par- 
liament, in  the  time  of  the  protectorate,  at  the  Restoration,  in  England, 
in  New  England,  in  the  Dutch  colony  of  New  Netherlands,  every- 
where ;  and  for  long  wearisome  years  they  were  exposed  to  perpetual 
dangers  and  griefs.  They  were  whipped,  crowded  in  jails  among 
felons,  kept  in  dungeons  foul  and  gloomy  beyond  imagination,  fined, 
exiled,  sold  into  colonial  bondage.  Imprisoned  in  winter  without  fire, 
they  perished  from  frost.  Some  were  victims  to  the  barbarous  cruelty 
of  the  jailor;  twice  George  Fox  narrowly  escaped  death.  The 
despised  people  braved  every  danger  to  continue  their  assemblies. 
Hauled  out  by  violence,  they  returned.  When  their  meeting-houses 
were  torn  down,  they  gathered  openly  on  the  ruins.  They  would  not 
be  dissolved  by  armed  men ;  and  when  their  opposers  took  shovels  to 
throw  rubbish  on  them,  they  stood  close  together,  '  willing  to  have 
been  buried  alive,  witnessing  to  the  Lord.'  They  were  exceeding 
great  sufferers  for  their  profession,  and  in  many  cases  fared  worse 
than  the  worst  of  their  race.  They  seemed,  indeed,  to  be  as  poor 
sheep  appointed  to  the  slaughter,  and  as  a  people  killed  all  day  long, 
abused  and  suffering,  who  went  forth  weeping  and  sowed  in  tears." 

And  now  this  oppressed  and  persecuted  people  were  about  to  have 
a  land  of  refuge  in  the  wilderness.  In  March,  1674,  shortly  after 
George  Fox's  return  to  England  after  that  visit  to  his  friends  in 
America  of  which  we  have  spoken,  and  perhaps  at  his  suggestion, 
Lord  Berkeley  sold  his  share  of  New  Jersey  to  Fen  wick  and  By  Hinge ; 


(1675.)  FUNDAMENTAL   LAWS   OP  NEW   JERSEY.  271 

and  the  following  year,  Fenwick,  with  a  large  number  of  Friends' 
families,  set  sail  in  the  Griffith,  and  ascending  the  Delaware,  landed 
at  a  place  which  he  called  Salem,  for  it  indeed  seemed  the  "  dwelling- 
place  of  peace." 

By  Hinge  having  become  embarrassed  in  his  circumstances,  assigned 
his  share  of  the  province  to  William  Penn  and  two  others,  still 
Quakers,  and  their  earliest  care  was  to  obtain  a  division  of  the 
territory  between  themselves  and  Sir  George  Carteret,  so  that  they 
might  be  able  to  carry  out  their  own  views  of  independent  govern- 
ment. New  Jersey  was  therefore  divided,  Carteret  receiving  the 
eastern  portion,  which  was  called  East  New  Jersey,  and  Fenwick  and 
his  friends  the  western,  or  West  New  Jersey. 

The  Quakers,  like  the  pilgrim  fathers  of  the  Mayflower,  prepared 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  colony  even  before  they  took  possession, 
so  that  from  the  first  they  were  under  the  guidance  of  an  enlightened 
legislation.  The  quaker  proprietaries, ^n  their  "Concessions,"  "laid 
a  foundation,"  to  use  their  own  words,  "  for  after  ages  to  understand 
their  liberty  as  Christians  and  as  men,  that  they  may  not  be  brought 
into  bondage  but  by  their  own  consent ;  for  we  put  the  power  in  the 
people." 

The  fundamental  laws  of  New  West  Jersey  were  published  in 
March,  1677,  and  afford  a  striking  contrast  to  "  the  Grand  Model "  of 
Carolina.  They  insured  entire  freedom  of  conscience,  enacting  that  no 
person,  at  any  time  or  in  any  way,  should  be  called  in  question  or  suffer 
damage  or  detriment  on  account  of  religious  opinion.  Government  was 
to  be  administered  by  a  general  assembly  elected  by  ballot ;  every 
citizen  being  capable  either  of  electing  or  being  elected.  Every 
member  of  the  assembly  was  to  be  paid  one  shilling  a  day  by  his  con- 
stituents, "  that  he  may  be  known  as  the  servant  of  the  people."  The 
executive  power  was  vested  in  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
assembly,  and  the  people  themselves  chose  justices  and  constables ; 
the  judges  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  assembly.  Trial  by  jury  was 
established ;  and,  that  "  all  and  every  person  in  the  province,  by  the 
help  of  the  Lord  and  these  fundamentals,  may  be  free  from  oppression 
and  slavery,  it  was  enacted,  that  no  man  could  be  imprisoned  for 
debt  j  courts  were  to  be  managed  without  attorneys  or  counsellors ; 


272  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  native  v,  as  to  be  protected  by  the  laws ;  and  the  orphan  to  bo 
educated  by  the  state." 

Two  emigrating  quaker-companies  were  commenced  in  England, 
one  in  London,  the  other  in  Yorkshire.  Thomas  Olive  and  others 
went  out  as  commissioners  to  superintend  the  colony  till  a  permanent 
government  was  established;  and  in  1677  about  400  colonists  went 
out,  and  purchasing  land  from  the  Indians,  established  themselves  at 
Burlington,  on  the  Delaware  —  these  being,  probably,  Yorkshire 
Friends— and  a  tent  covered  with  sail-cloth  furnished  them  with  a 
place  for  their  religious  worship.  The  Indians,  those  peaceful  Dela- 
wares,  received  them  as  friends,  and  rejoiced  in  the  prospect  of 
dwelling  in  perpetual  amity  with  them.  "  You  are  our  brethren," 
said  the  sachems,  "and  we  will  live  like  brothers  with  you.  We  will 
have  a  broad  path  for  you  and  us  to  walk  in.  If  an  Englishman  shall 
fall  asleep  in  this  path,  the  Indian  shall  pass  him  by,  and  say,  he  is 
an  Englishman ;  he  is  asleep,  let  him  alone.  The  path  shall  be  plain ; 
there  shall  not  be  in  it  a  stump  to  hurt  the  foot." 

All  went  well  with  the  colony,  when  a  difficulty  arose  between 
them  and  Andros,  the  agent  of  the  Duke  of  York,  who  still  possessed 
Delaware,  and  who  demanded  customs  of  all  the  ships  which  ascended 
that  river  to  New  Jersey.  The  Quakers  refused  to  pay  them ;  and 
the  duke,  to  whom  they  made  their  remonstrance,  agreed  to  refer  the 
question  to  Sir  William  Jones,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  that  day. 

We  must  give  a  few  clauses  from  their  remonstrance,  to  show  the 
straightforward  and  manly  spirit  of  the  quaker  colonists  : — 

"An  express  grant  of  the  powers  of  government,"  say  they,  "induced 
us  to  buy  the  moiety  of  New  Jersey.  If  we  could  not  assure  people 
of  an  easy,  free  and  safe  government,  liberty  of  conscience  and  an 
inviolable  possession  of  their  civil  rights  and  freedoms,  a  mere  wilder- 
ness would  be  no  encouragement.  It  were  madness  to  leave  a  free 
country  to  plant  a  wilderness,  and  give  another  person  an  absolute 
title  to  tax  us  at  will. 

"  The  customs  imposed  by  the  government  of  New  York  are  not 
only  a  burden  but  a  wrong.  The  King  of  England  cannot  take  his 
subjects'  goods  without  their  consent.  This  is  a  home-born  right, 
declared  to  be  law  by  divers  statutes. 


(16V7.)  REMONSTRANCES  AGAINST    YORK'S   OPPRESSION.  273 

"  The  land  belongs  to  the  natives ;  of  the  duke  we  buy  nothing 
but  the  right  of  an  undisturbed  colonisation,  with  the  expectation  of 
some  increase  of  the  freedoms  of  our  native  country.  We  have  not 
lost  English  liberty  by  leaving  England. 

"  The  tax  is  a  surprise  to  the  planter ;  it  is  paying  for  the  same 
thing  twice  over.  By  this  precedent  we  are  assessed  without  law, 
and  excluded  from  our  English  right  of  common  assent  to  taxes. 
Such  conduct  has  destroyed  government,  but  never  raised  one  to  true 


"  Lastly,  to  exact  such  interminable  tax,  and  to  continue  it  after 
repeated  complaints,  will  be  the  greatest  evidence  of  a  design  to  intro- 
duce, if  the  crown  should  ever  devolve  upon  the  duke,  an  unlimited 
power  in  England." 

Such  plain  speaking  as  this  was  worthy  of  the  men  who  bowed 
and  bared  the  head  only  to  God.  Their  arguments  established  their 
cause..  Sir  William  Jones  decided  that  the  duke  had  no  claim  to  the 
tax. 

In  East  Jersey  also,  Andros  attempted  to  exercise,  on  behalf  of  the 
duke,  the  same  arbitrary  power,  and  here  also  was  he  opposed.  But 
the  measures  which  he  took  to  enforce  obedience  were  of  a  more 
violent  character.  He  sent  soldiers  to  seize  Carteret,  the  governor, 
who  was  taken  in  his  bed,  and  carried  prisoner  to  New  York.  Ho 
summoned  a  special  court  for  his  trial,  himself  being  judge,  and 
though  the  jury  persisted  in  returning  a  verdict  of  acquittal,  he  was 
still  detained  a  prisoner. 

The  result  of  the  decision  in  favour  of  the  Friends  of  West  Jersey 
led  to  the  formal  rclinqmshment  of  all  claim  to  the  territory  or 
government  by  the  Duke  of  York ;  and  shortly  afterwards  a  similar 
release  was  made  by  him  on  behalf  of  East  Jersey,  when  that  pro- 
vince also  became  an  independent  jurisdiction. 

In  1681,  Jennings  being  appointed  governor  of  West  Jersey,  the 
first  legislative  assembly  was  convened,  and  laws  were  enacted  based 
on  the  Quakers'  view  of  religion  and  morality.  By  their  laws,  all 
distinctions  of  faith,  wealth,  or  race,  were  rejected ;  it  was  the  uni- 
versal humanity  for  which  they  legislated.  For  the  expenses  of  their 
government  £200  were  levied,  to  be  paid  in  corn,  skins,  or  money. 
The  salary  of  their  governor  was  £20  a  year ;  they  prohibited 

12* 


274  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  sale  of  ardent  spirits  to  the  Indians ;  and  in  all  criminal  cases, 
excepting  treason,  murder  and  theft,  the  person  aggrieved  had  the 
power  to  pardon  the  offender. 

The  state  of  West  Jersey  presented  a  picture  of  a  practical  Utopia; 
its  laws  were  based  on  the  broadest  principles  of  Christianity  and 
faith  in  an  improved  and  improvable  humanity  j  it  was  an  experi- 
ment in  human  virtue,  arid  bore  the  test.  The  few  hundred  souls 
who  commenced  it,  the  little  band  of  Friends,  grew  soon  into  thou- 
sands, and  God's  peace  rested  on  them  like  a  visible  blessing,  under 
which  they,  the  meek  and  longsuffering,  literally  began  to  possess 
the  earth  with  an  overflowing  measure  of  joy.  A  kindly  and 
pleasant  intercourse  commenced  now  between  the  Friends  on  each 
side  the  Atlantic ;  the  cup  of  the  oppressed  and  persecuted  ran 
over  with  blessings ! — "  Friends,"  wrote  George  Fox,  and  others,  in 
a  spirit  of  loving  admonition,  "  Friends  that  are  gone  to  make 
plantations  in  America,  keep  the  plantations  in  your  hearts,  that 
your  own  vines  and  lilies  be  not  hurt.  You  that  are  governors  and 
judges,  eyes  you  should  be  to  the  blind,  and  feet  to  the  lame,  and 
fathers  to  the  poor ;  that  you  may  gain  the  blessing  of  those  who  are 
ready  to  perish,  and  cause  the  widow's  heart  to  sing  for  gladness.  If 
you  rejoice  because  your  hand  hath  gotten  much ;  if  you  say  to  fine 
gold,  Thou  art  my  confidence,  you  will  have  denied  the  God  that  is 
above.  The  Lord  is  ruler  among  nations ;  he  will  crown  his  people 
with  dominion." 

The  first  trouble  which  West  Jersey  knew,  was  that  Byllinge,  the 
original  proprietary,  claimed  the  right  to  appoint  the  deputy-gover- 
nor ;  this  led  to  some  dispute,  but  was  finally  settled  by  such  altera- 
tion in  the  constitution  as -enabled  them  to  choose  their  own  gover- 
nor ;  after  which  all  went  well. 

On  the  death  of  Sir  George  Carteret,  the  patentee  of  East  Jersey, 
this  portion  of  his  estates  was  offered  for  sale,  and  William  Penn  and 
eleven  others,  in  1682,  became  the  purchasers.  But  East  Jersey, 
settled  principally  by  Puritans,  presented  a  different  character  to 
the  western  portion  of  the  province.  On  the  change  of  proprietaries, 
Robert  Barclay,  one  of  twelve  Scotch  proprietaries,  several  of  whom 
were  not  Quakers,  and  who  were  now  associated  with  the  first  twelve, 
was  appointed  governor  for  life ;  but  he  never  assumed  office  himself. 


(1682.)  THE    QUAKERS    FIRMLY   SETTLED   IN   AMERICA.  275 

appointing  Rudyard  as  his  deputy.  Great  numbers  of  Scotch  emi- 
grants, principally  from  Aberdeen,  Barclay's  native  county,  removed 
to  East  Jersey.  Rudyard  was  succeeded  as  deputy-governor,  in  1684, 
by  Gawin  Laurie,  a  Scotch  Quaker  and  merchant  of  London,  who 
endeavoured,  but  in  vain,  to  establish  a  commercial  capital  at  Perth 
Amboy,  on  Ilaritan  Bay,  to  rival  New  York. 

Thus  were  the  Quakers  firmly  established  in  the  New  World ;  like 
the  Puritans  of  New  England,  whom  they  equalled  in  stability  and 
every  sterling  quality  of  character,  they  took  deep  root  wherever  they 
fixed  themselves.  We  must  now  follow  them  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Delaware,  where  William  Penn  is  at  this  very  time  planting  his 
colony  of  peace. 


276  HISTORY    OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

FORTY  years  before  the  grant  of  Pennsylvania  to  William  Penn,  the 
western  bank  of  the  Delaware  river  was  settled  by  Swedes,  as  we 
have  already  related.  Penn  received  a  territory,  the  soil  of  which 
was  already  broken  by  the  European  planter. 

Of  William  Penn  himself,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his 
age,  and  the  greatest  of  the  American  legislators,  we  must  be  allowed 
to  say  a  few  words.  By  his  mother's  side  he  was  of  Dutch  origin, 
and  his  father  was  Admiral  Penn,  commander  of  the  English  fleet  at 
the  conquest  of  Jamaica,  and  who  afterwards  distinguished  himself 
under  the  Duke  of  York  in  the  war  with  the  Dutch. 

William  Penn,  born  in  1644,  was  the  only  son  of  his  parents.  At 
so  early  an  age  as  eleven,  as  he  himself  relates,  he  was  suddenly  sur- 
prised "  with  an  inward  comfort  and  an  external  glory  in  the  belief 
of  God,  and  his  communion  with  the  soul."  His  attention  was  first 
turned  to  the  Quakers  by  the  preaching  of  Thomas  Loe ;  and  while 
at  Oxford  he  and  other  students  withdrew  themselves  from  the 
established  worship,  and  held  their  own  private  religious  meetings. 
They  were  fined  for  nonconformity,  but  to  no  purpose  ;  and  finally 
were  expelled  for  refusing  to  wear  surplices,  which  custom  was  then 
revived  in  the  college,  as  well  as  for  disrobing  others  of  them,  as  a 
relic  of  popery.  His  father,  displeased  by  these  religious  excesses, 
and  hoping  to  turn  his  mind  from  them,  sent  him  to  travel  for  two 
years  on  the  continent,  after  which  he  studied  law  in  Lincoln's  Inn. 
Thus,  in  early  manhood  perfected  by  travel  and  study,  he  is  described 
as  being  of  "  engaging  manners,  of  great  natural  vivacity  and  gay 
good  humour,  and  so  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  sword,  that  he  could 
easily  disarm  his  antagonist."  Every  worldly  advantage  was  pre- 


(1666.)  ACCOUNT    OP   THE   LIFE    OF   WILLIAM   PENN.  277 

pared  for  him,  through  the  influence  of  his  father  and  the  favour  of 
his  sovereign.  But  his  mind  was  still  deeply  impressed  with  "  a 
sense  of  the  vanity  of  the  world,  and  the  irreligiousness  of  its  reli- 
gion." 

In  1666  he  went  to  Ireland  to  manage  his  father's  estates,  where 
he  became  an  openly  professing  Quaker.  "  God,"  says  he,  "  in  his 
everlasting  kindness  having  guided  my  feet,  in  the  flower  of  my 
youth,  when  about  two-and-twenty  years  of  age."  Apprehended  at 
a  Quakers'  meeting  held  at  Cork,  he  and  others  were  committed  to 
prison,  he  refusing  to  find  bail  for  himself. 

Admiral  Penn  now  summoned  his  son  home,  being  greatly  annoyed 
at  this  open  profession  of  quakerism.  At  home,  the  demeanour  of 
his  son,  which  exhibited  all  the  rigid  peculiarities  of  the  sect,  still 
further  displeased  him.  He  tried  every  means;  even  blows,  to  obtain 
conformity ;  but  in  vain.  As  regarded  "  hat  worship,"  the  admiral 
would  have  been  satisfied  if  his  son  would  merely  have  uncovered  his 
head  in  presence  of  the  king,  the  Duke  of  York  and  himself;  but 
even  that  the  young  man  would  not  concede.  The  scoffs,  jeers  and 
wonderment  of  his  gay  London  acquaintance  mattered  nothing  to 
him.  He  bore  all  meekly,  steadfast  to  that  which  appeared  to  him  the 
requirements  of  duty ;  and  finally  his  father  in  anger  turned  him  out 
of  doors  penniless. 

The  affection  of  his  mother  preserved  him  from  absolute  want ;  and 
soon  he  became  quaker  preacher  and  author ;  and  his  "  Sandy 
Foundation  Shaken  "  was  published,  which  led  to  his  imprisonment 
in  the  Tower.  Here  he  remained  for  seven  months,  during  which  he 
wrote  his  "  No  Cross,  No  Crown,"  the  most  celebrated  of  his  works. 
The  steadfastness  of  his  spirit  was  shown  by  this  imprisonment.  In 
vain  the  good-natured  Charles  II.  wished  to  lure  him  to  submission ;  he 
could  not  or  would  not  gainsay  his  conscience.  After  his  libera- 
tion, in  1669,  he  was  reconciled  to  his  father  through  the  intervention 
of  the  Duke  of  York,  but  his  adherence  to  his  quaker  principles 
remained  unshaken. 

The  following  year,  the  Conventicle  Act  being  passed,  Penn  was 
one  of  the  first  sufferers  under  it.  He  was  committed  to  Newgate  for 
preaching  at  what  was  called  "a  riotous  and  seditious  assembly," 
which  was  merely  one  of  those  out-of-doors  meetings  which  the  reso- 


278  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

lute  Quakers  held  when  driven  out  by  force  from  their  meeting- 
houses. The  famous  trial  of  Penn  and  Mead  at  the  Old  Bailey 
followed,  in  which  an  English  jury,  as  resolute  in  the  right  as  the 
Quakers  themselves,  asserted  and  maintained  the  prerogative  of  inde- 
pendent judgment  in  defiance  of  the  bench,  though  they  were  fined 
forty  marks  each,  and  Penn  was  returned  to  prison.  The  same  year 
Admiral  Penn  died,  testifying  to  his  son  on  his  death-bed,  that  if  the 
Quakers  remained  true  to  that  which  was  in  them,  they  would 
regenerate  the  world. 

William  Penn  inherited  from  his  father  property  to  the  value  of 
£1,500  per  annum,  and  a  claim  on  government  to  the  amount  of 
£16,000.  The  following  year  he  was  again  a  prisoner  in  Newgate, 
one  of  the  most  wofully  noisome  prisons  at  that  time  in  London, 
where  he  lay  for  six  months. 

In  1677,  in  company  with  George  Fox  and  Robert  Barclay,  he 
paid  a  "  religious  visit "  to  Holland  and  Germany,  distributing  pam- 
phlets wherever  they  went,  seeds  of  liberty  and  truth,  which  sprang 
up  into  after  plentiful  harvest.  And  not  alone  did  they  address  the 
people,  but  kings  and  princes,  palatine-princes  and  magistrates,  pro- 
mulgating everywhere  the  universal  principle  of  truth,  and  awakening 
many  souls  to  its  consciousness.  The  year  after  his  return,  Penn 
pleaded  before  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons,  that  the  affir- 
mation of  the  Quaker  might  be  legalised  instead  of  an  oath :  and  an 
enactment  for  this  purpose  would  have  passed  but  for  the  sudden  pro- 
rogation of  parliament. 

The  sufferings  of  the  people  to  whom  he  was  attached  led  William 
Penn  to  seek  for  them  an  asylum  in  the  New  World,  and  his  efforts 
on  their  behalf  were  blessed,  as  we  have  seen,  by  their  establishment 
in  West  Jersey.  This  great  and  benevolent  act,  this  planting  of 
"the  truth"  on  a  new  and  prolific  soil,  led  to  the  extension  of  still 
more  magnificent  plans  of  philanthropy ;  and  in  1681  William  Penn 
applied  to  Charles  II.  for  an  extensive  tract  of  land,  lying  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Delaware,  in  liquidation  of  the  debt  due  to  his 
father.  Had  Penn  demanded  the  amount  of  the  debt  itself  from  the 
lavish  and  impoverished  monarch,  he  would  have  asked  in  vain ;  but 
to  ask  the  payment  of  a  debt  by  a  grant  of  land  was  to  make  the 
thing  easy  to  the  monarch,  while  to  William  Penu  the  land  had  four- 


(1681.)          PENNSYLVANIA  GRANTED  TO  PENN.  279 

fold  the  value  of  the  money.  The  application  was  seconded  by  the 
Duke  of  York,  who  had  ever  shown  a  friendly  interest  in  the  son  of 
his  former  naval  associate.  Besides  which,  it  has  heen  said,  that 
belonging  to  a  persecuted  sect  himself,  he  had  strong  sympathy  with  a 
man  who,  like  Penn,had  suffered  so  unflinchingly  for  conscience  sake. 

"  At  length,  after  many  waitings,  watchings,  solicitings  and  dis- 
putes in  council,"  writes  William  Penn,  "  my  country  was  confirmed 
to  me  under  the  great  seal  of  England.  God  will  bless  and  make  it 
the  seal  of  a  nation." 

Penn,  now  in  the  thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  became  the 
sovereign  of  a  vast  province,  which  was  called  by  the  king,  PENNSYL- 
VANIA, though  Penn  himself  would  have  dispensed  with  the  first 
syllable  of  the  name,  as  being  a  species  of  self-glorification ;  but  the 
monarch  insisted  upon  its  retention. 

In  April,  1681,  Penn  issued  his  proclamation  as  absolute  pro- 
prietary, in  the  following  words,  addressed  to  his  subjects  in  the  New 
World:— 

"  My  Friends, — I  wish  you  all  happiness  here  and  hereafter.  These 
are  to  let  you  know  that  it  hath  pleased  God  in  his  providence  to  cast 
you  within  my  lot  and  care.  It  is  a  business  that,  though  I  never 
undertook  before,  yet  God  has  given  me  an  understanding  of  my  duty 
and  an  honest  mind  to  do  it  uprightly.  I  hope  you  will  not  be 
troubled  at  your  change  and  the  king's  choice,  for  you  are  now  fixed 
at  the  mercy  of  no  governor  that  comes  to  make  his  fortune  great. 
You  shall  be  governed  by  laws  of  your  own  making,  and  live  a  free, 
and  if  you  will,  an  industrious  people.  I  shall  not  usurp  the  right  of 
any,  or  oppress  his  person.  God  has  furnished  me  with  a  better 
resolution,  and  has  given  me  his  grace  to  keep  it.  In  short,  whatever 
sober  and  free  men  can  reasonably  desire  for  the  security  and  improve- 
ment of  their  own  happiness,  I  shall  heartily  comply  with.  I  beseech 
God  to  direct  you  in  the  way  of  righteousness,  and  therein  prosper 
you  and  your  children  after  you. — I  am,  your  true  friend,  WILLIAM 
PENN." 

The  grant  to  Penn  made  him  sovereign  proprietary  not  only  of 
Pennsylvania,  but  of  the  settlements  of  the  Swedes,  Dutch  and  Eng- 


280  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

lish,  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Delaware  and  the  mouth  of  the 
Schuylkill.  A  royal  proclamation,  announcing  this  fact  to  these 
settlers,  accompanied  by  the  letter  to  his  new  subjects  above  given, 
was  immediately  sent  over  by  William  Penn  by  the  hand  of  his  young 
relative,  William  Markham.  At  the  same  time  companies  were 
formed  in  London  for  commercial  purposes,  and  for  the  purchase  of 
land  and  emigration;  lands  were  sold  at  the  rate  of  40s.  for  every  100 
acres,  the  purchasers  being  entitled  also  to  lots  in  the  city,  all  land 
being  subject  to  a  quit-rent  of  Is.  for  each  100  acres.  In  the  course  of 
the  summer,  three  vessels  of  emigrants,  with  three  commissioners  on 
board,  set  sail  for  the  new  land ;  but  good  fortune  seemed  not  to 
attend  them ;  one  was  driven  to  the  West  Indies,  another  frozen  up 
on  the  Delaware. 

Penn,  though  he  inherited  a  considerable  property  from  his  father, 
was  not  by  any  means  a  wealthy  man.  Owing  to  the  liberality  of  his 
expenditure  on  behalf  of  his  suffering  brethren,  his  circumstances  were 
straitened,  and  he  had  a  growing  family ;  yet  such  was  the  integrity 
of  his  mind,  that  he  refused  £6,000  which  were  offered  him  by  a 
London  trading  company,  for  a  monopoly  of  the  Indian  traffic  between 
the  Delaware  and  the  Susquehannah.  Monopoly  was  contrary  to  his 
principles  of  justice,  and  he  replied,  nobly,  that  "  he  would  not  abuse 
the  love  of  God,  nor  act  unworthy  of  his  providence,  by  defiling  what 
came  to  him  clean."  No ;  his  government  in  Pennsylvania  was  to  be 
"  a  Holy  Experiment,"  for  which  there  was  no  room  in  England,  and 
self-aggrandisement,  even  though  himself  profited  by  it,  could  have 
no  place  there. 

In  September,  Penn  sent  out  instructions  regarding  the  laying  out 
of  the  new  city.  Wishing  to  avoid  the  fault  of  the  cities  of  the  Old 
World,  which,  built  during  times  of  disquiet,  were  crowded  within 
narrow  bounds,  so  as  to  be  easily  defended  in  case  of  need,  he  desired 
that  his  new  city  should  be  laid  out  with  ample  space,  allowing  to 
each  house  its  garden,  so  as  to  form  "  a  green  country  town."  He 
also  sent  a  friendly  letter  to  the  Indians,  addressing  them  as  brethren, 
as  children  of  the  same  Heavenly  Father,  "having  the  same  law 
written  in  their  hearts,  and  alike  bound  to  love  and  help  to  do  one 
another  good." 
The  "Grand  Model"  constitution  was  not  the  result  of  more 


(1681.)  CONSTITUTION   OF  PENNSYLVANIA.  281 

thought  than  was  the  frame  of  government  which  the  deeply  religious 
mind  of  Penn  prepared  for  his  province.  According  to  his  views, 
government,  like  religion,  was  based  on  love,  and  had  for  its  purpose 
the  advancement  and  happiness  of  the  people,  even  more  than  the 
correction  of  evil-doers.  Although  acknowledging  in  himself  the 
supreme  head  of  the  state,  "  yet  for  the  matters  of  liberty,"  said  he, 
"  I  purpose  that  which  is  extraordinary — to  leave  myself  and  suc- 
cessors no  power  of  doing  mischief;  that  the  will  of  one  man  may  not 
hinder  the  good  of  a  whole  country."  And  again,  "  It  is  the  great 
end  of  government  to  support  power  in  reverence  with  the  people,  and 
to  secure  the  people  from  the  abuse  of  power ;  for  liberty  without 
obedience  is  confusion,  and  obedience  without  liberty  is  slavery." 
Shaftesbury  counselled  with  Locke,  and  the  intellect  of  the  age  pro- 
duced the  "Grand  Model;"  Penn  counselled  with  z\lgernon  Sidnev 
and  his  quaker  brethren,  who,  like  himself,  listened  to  the  Divine 
Voice  within  their  own  souls,  and  a  frame  of  government  suitable  to 
the  "  Holy  Experiment"  was  the  result ;  and  fundamental  principles 
of  government  were  acknowledged,  which,  though  too  pure  for  that 
age  and  for  that  province  even,  have  since  become-not  only  the  avowed 
basis  of  legislature  in  Pennsylvania,  but  in  Great  Britain  itself.  Truth 
is  immortal,  and  no  "  Holy  Experiment"  is  ever  tried  in  vain. 

According  to  the  proposed  constitution,  the  legislative  and  executive 
authority  was  vested  in  a  council  of  seventy-two  persons,  elected  by 
the  freemen  for  three  years,  one-third  to  go  out  annually;  the  pro- 
prietary or  his  deputy  to  preside  and  have  a  triple  vote.  Laws  thus 
proposed  were  to  be  submitted  for  approval  or  rejection  to  an 
assembly  of  freemen.  To  this  frame  of  government  were  subjoined 
forty  "  fundamental  laws,"  agreed  upon  by  Penn  and  his  intending 
emigrants,  religious  toleration  being  of  course  one  of  these.  The 
words  of  this  provision  were: — "All  persons  living  in  this  province, 
who  confess  and  acknowledge  the  one  Almighty  and  Eternal  God  to  be 
the  creator,  upholder  and  ruler  of  the  world,  and  that  hold  themselves 
obliged  in  conscience  to  live  peaceably  and  justly  in  civil  society, 
shall  in  nowise  be  molested  or  prejudiced  for  their  religious  per- 
suasion or  practice  in,  matters  of  faith  and  worship." 

The  proposals  which  Penn  had  published  soon  attracted  attention ; 
and  a  "  Free  Society  of  Traders"  was  immediately  formed,  who  took 


282  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

up,  on  his  terms,  20,000  acres  of  land,  and  received  in  consequence 
their  appurtenant  city  lots  of  100  acres,  constituting  an  entire  street 
of  the  new  city.  A  German  emigration  society  was  also  formed,  and 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Frankfort  and  "the  highlands  above 
"Worms,"  where  the  simple  peasantry  had  gladly  embraced  quaker 
principles  at  the  preaching  of  Penn,  Fox,  and  others,  great  numbers 
not  only  now,  but  for  several  years,  continued  to  flock  over  to  the 
new  land  of  hope  and  promise ;  and  Germantown,  among  other 
settlements,  was  founded. 

In  August,  1 682,  Penn  obtained  from  the  Duke  of  York  a  surrender 
of  all  claims  on  his  part  to  the  province  of  Pennsylvania  ;  and  soon 
afterwards  a  grant  of  the  settlements  on  the  western  and  southern 
banks  of  the  Delaware  river  and  bay,  which  had  hitherto  been 
included  in  the  duke's  charter,  and  claimed  as  an  appurtenance  of 
New  York.  These  now  took  the  title  of  "The  Territories,"  and 
furnished  to  Pennsylvania  the  important  advantage  of  an  ocean- 
outlet. 

These  measures  being  secured,  Penn  prepared  to  embark,  together 
with  100  of  his  friends,  emigrants  to  the  new  country.  Penn  took 
leave  of  his  wife,  the  noble  and  beautiful  daughter  of  Isaac  Pen- 
nington,  to  whom  he  was  sincerely  attached,  in  an  affecting  letter, 
recommending  his  children  to  her  love  and  care,  and  praying  her  "  to 
live  sparingly  till  his  debts  were  paid ;"  yet,  as  regarded  the  education 
of  the  children,  to  "  let  it  be  liberal ;  to  spare  in  that  respect  no  cost, 
for  by  such  parsimony  all  is  lost,"  said  he,  ' '  that  is  saved." 

The  voyage  was  long  and  disastrous,  owing  to  the  small-pox  which 
broke  out  in  the  ship  and  destroyed  one-third  of  the  passengers.  On 
the  27th  of  October,  the  ship  arrived  at  Newcastle,  on  the  Delaware, 
where  crowds  were  gathered  to  receive  their  distinguished  governor. 
The  following  day,  the  surrender  of  the  Duke  of  York  being  read  in 
the  court-house,  Penn  received  from  the  duke's  agent  earth  and  water, 
in  token  of  the  solemn  delivery  of  "  the  territory "  into  his  hands. 
After  this,  he  addressed  the  people,  recommending  to  them  peace  and 
sobriety,  and  assuring  them  on  his  part  of  liberty  of  conscience  and 
civil  freedom.  He  then  proceeded  up  the  broac^  majestic  Delaware  to 
Upland,  or  Chester,  where  again  crowds  of  rejoicing  simple  people, 
like  dwellers  in  Arcadia,  thronged  to  bid  him  welcome. 


(1G82.)  THE   FIRST   ASSEMBLY   CONVENED   AT   CHESTER.  283 

He  found  the  inhabitants  of  this  province,  Swedes,  Dutch  and 
English,  to  amount  already  to  between  2,000  and  3,000— "  plain, 
strong  and  industrious  people."  There  were  six  religious  societies 
established,  three  of  Swedish  Lutherans  and  three  of  the  Quakers. 
"  The  land  itself,"  he  wrote,  "  was  good,  the  air  clear  and  sweet,  the 
springs  plentiful,  and  provisions  good  and  easy  to  come  at;  an 
innumerable  quantity  of  wild-fowl  and  fish ;  in  fine,  what  an  Abra- 
ham, Isaac  and  Jacob  would  be  well  contented  with." 

"Tradition,"  says  Bancroft,  "describes  the  journey  of  Penn  and  his 
friends  from  Chester,  in  an  open  boat,  in  the  earliest  days  of 
November,  to  the  beautiful  banks,  fringed  with  pine-trees,  on  which 
the  city  of  Philadelphia  was  soon  to  rise."  Markham  had  already 
began  to  build,  on  Pennsbury  Manor,  "  a  stately  brick  house  "  as  the 
proprietary  residence. 

After  visits  to  East  and  West  Jersey  and  to  New  York,  in  compli- 
ment to  his  friend,  the  duke,  and  after  a  meeting  with  the  Friends  of 
Long  Island,  Penn  returned  to  Chester,  where  the  first  assembly  was 
convened.  The  body  of  freemen  present  amounted  to  seventy-two, 
and  these  petitioning  that  they,  "  owing  to  the  fewness  of  the  people 
and  their  unskilfulness  in  matters  of  government,  might  constitute 
foolli  assembly  and  council,"  it  was  enacted  that,  in  future,  "the 
.assembly  should  consist  of  thirty-six  members  only,  six  from,  each 
county,  to  be  chosen  annually,  with  a  council  composed  of  three 
members  for  each  county,  to  hold  their  seats  for  three  years,  one  to  be 
chosen  each  year.  The  governor  and  council  to  possess,  jointly,  the 
right  of  proposing  laws."  This  latter  enactment,  as  regarded  the 
power  of  the  proprietary  governor,  which  was  now  made  at  the  special 
request  of  the  assembly,  gave  rise  to  after  dissatisfaction  and 
reproaches  against  Penn  as  a  violation  of  his  original  engagement. 

It  was  about  this  time,  in  the  winter  season,  that  Penn  made  his 
celebrated  treaty  with  the  Indians,  under  the  great  elm-tree  of  Shaka- 
maxon,  which  was  then  leafless,  and  not  heavy  with  foliage  as 
represented  by  West.  Here  Penn  met  the  delegated  Indians  of  the 
Leni-Lenape,  or  Delaware  confederacy,  not  for  the  purchase  of  land, 
but  to  cement  with  them  the  covenant  of  friendship  of  which  he  had 
written.  He  had  written  to  them  as  to  men  and  brethren,  to  whom 
the  same  moral  obligations  referred ;  he  had  promised,  and  his  agent 


284  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Markham  had  carried  out  the  same  principle,  that  they  should  be 
secure  in  their  pursuits  and  possessions,  and  that  all  differences  should 
be  adjusted  by  a  peaceful  tribunal,  composed  of  an  equal  number  of 
each  race.  The  representation  of  this  treaty,  by  West,  is  not  accurate- 
Bancroft  gives  it  to  us  thus : — "  The  delegated  chiefs  of  the  forest, 
men  of  lofty  demeanour  and  grave  aspect,  are  assembled  without  their 
weapons ;  the  old  men  sit  in  a  half-moon  upon  the  ground ;  the  mid- 
dle-aged are  in  a  like  figure  at  a  little  distance  behind  them ;  the 
young  foresters  form  a  third  semicircle  in  the  rear.  Before  them 
stands  William  Penn,  graceful  in  the  summer  of  life,  in  dress  distin- 
guishable only  from  his  friends,  principally  young  men,  by  whom  he 
was  surrounded,  by  a  light  blue  silk  sash,  which  was  bound  round  his 
waist." 

William  Penn  stood  thus  in  the  dignity  of  noble  manhood,  upright 
intentions  and  brotherly  love ;  and  gazing  around,  beheld,  "far  as  his 
eye  would  carry,"  the  plumed  and  painted  chieftains  of  the  forest 
gathering  round  him.  It  was  like  the  realisation  of  Christ's  own  mis- 
sion of  peace  and  good  will  to  man ;  the  bow  and  the  tomahawk  of  the 
savage  were  laid  aside,  and  the  oldest  sachem  of  the  peaceful  Dela- 
wares  announced  to  the  benevolent  Onas  that  "the  nations  were  ready 
to  listen  to  his  words,  believing  him  to  be  a  messenger  sent  to  them 
from  the  Great  Spirit." 

"  We  meet,"  said  William  Penn,  in  reply,  "  on  the  broad  pathway 
of  good  works  and  good  will ;  no  advantage  shall  be  taken  on  either 
side,  but  all  shall  be  openness  and  love.  I  will  not  call  you  children, 
for  parents  sometimes  chide  their  children  too  severely;  nor  brothers 
only,  for  brothers  differ.  The  friendship  between  m<5  and  you  I  will 
not  compare  to  a  chain,  for  that  the  rains  might  rust,  or  a  falling  tree 
break.  We  are  the  same  as  if  one  man's  body  were  divided  into  two 
parts ;  we  are  all  one  flesh  and  blood." 

The  simple  sons  of  the  forest,  believers  in  the  "  Great  Spirit,"  com- 
prehended these  words  in  their  inmost  soul ;  and  receiving  in  good 
faith  Penn's  presents,  returned  the  wampum  belt  of  peace.  "  We  will 
live,"  said  they,  "in  love  with  Father  Onas  and  his  children  as  long 
as  moon  and  sun  shall  endure ;"  and  so  saying,  the  treaty  was  for- 
mally signed,  the  chieftains  marking  the  emblems  of  their  various 
tribes.  The  purchases  of  Markham  were  ratified,  and  others  mode. 


(1682.)  PEACE    BETWEEN   QUAKERS   AND   INDIANS.  285 

As  regards  the  tree  which  was  in  its  prime  when  this  group,  beau- 
tiful in  the  sight  of  heaven,  stood  under  its  branches,  our  readers  may 
have  an  interest  in  knowing  that  it  was  situate  on  the  northern  side 
of  Philadelphia,  and  was  standing  until  March  3rd,  1810,  when  it  was 
hlown  down.  A  marhle  monument  now  marks  the  place  \vhere  it 
stood.  "  It  was  a  remarkably  wide-spreading  rather  than  lofty  tree, 
its  main  branch  measuring  150  feet;  its  age,  as  computed  by  its 
circles  of  annual  growth,  was  283  years.  While  it  stood,  the  Me- 
thodists and  Baptists  held  their  summer  meetings  under  its  shade." 
It  was  truly  a  "  gospel  tree." 

The  treaty  of  peace  made  on  this  occasion  was  never  broken  on 
either  side  for  seventy  years — as  long  as  the  Quakers  retained  the 
government  of  the  province.     The  terrible  and  bloody  Indian  war  of 
New  England  was  but  a  few  years  passed ;  Maryland  and  Virginia 
were  in  a  state  of  continual  hostility  with  these  very  Algonquin  or 
Delaware  Indians,  who  were  naturally  inclined  for  peace ;  so  also  the 
Dutch.      It  remained  alone  for  William  Penn  and  his  friends,  who 
believing  God's  word  implicitly— that  Christ's  law  was  one  of  love, 
not  of  violence — came  in  the  guise  of  peace ;  and  through  all  the 
numerous  records  of  quaker  life  in  America,  even  in  the  midst  of 
Indian  warfare  and  outrage,  not  one  drop  of  quaker  blood  was  shed. 
To  be  a  Quaker,  to  possess  no  "  weapon  of  war,"  was  to  be  safe  from 
Indian  danger.     Many  a  beautiful  and  touching  narrative  is  related, 
in  the  early  Friends'  books,  of  solitary  dwellers  in  the  great  woods  of 
Virginia  and  Maryland,  when,  on  the  approach  of  the  Indians,  who 
had  left  fire  and  desolation  behind  them,  "the  fierce  dogs  that  usually 
kept  the  place"  were  cowed  into  silence,  and  the  pious  people,  to  use 
their  own  phraseology,  "not  having  been  free  in  their  minds"  to  take 
in  the  string  which  lifted  the  latch— their  only  means  of  security— lay 
wakeful,  listening  to  the  coming   footsteps  of  the  foe,  who,  on  finding 
the  latch-string  trustfully  outside   the  door,   "spake  a  few  Indian 
words,  and  went  on." 

Once  only  was  the  calm  of  peace  disturbed.  A  lumour  passed 
through  the  province,  in  the  year  1688,  that  500  Indians  were 
assembled  on  the  Erandywine  to  massacre  the  settlers.  On  this, 
Caleb  Pusey  and  five  other  Friends  presented  themselves  unarmed 
before  them,  to  inquire  the  cause  of  this  report.  "  The  great  God/' 


286  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

said  the  Quaker,  addressing  the  sachem,  "  who  made  all  man- 
kind, extends  his  love  to  Indians  and  English.  The  rains  and  the 
dews  fall  alike  on  the  ground  of  both ;  the  sun  shines  on  us  equally, 
and  we  ought  to  love  one  another."  "What  you  say  is  true," 
returned  the  red  chieftain ;  "  go  home,  and  harvest  the  corn  which 
God  has  given  you :  we  mean  you  no  harm." 

In  January,  or  the  First  Month,  as  Friends  called  it,  of  1683,  the 
ground  having  been  purchased  from  the  Swedes,  who  had  already  a 
church  there,  the  new  city  was  laid  out  on  a  neck  of  land  between 
the  confluence  of  the  Schuylkill  and  the  Delaware,  "  a  situation,"  said 
William  Penn,  "  unsurpassed  by  any  of  the  many  places  he  had  seen 
in  the  world."     To  the  infant  city,  thus  pleasantly  situated,  the  name 
of  Philadelphia,  or   the  City  of  Brotherly  Love,  was  given.     The 
streets  were  designated  from  the  native  groves  of  chesnut,  pine  or 
walnut  through  which  they  ran  ;  and  so  rapid  was  the  growth  of 
the  city,  that  it  contained  eighty  houses  by  the  end  of  the  year;  and 
in  two  years  time  it  contained   2,500   inhabitants  ;   schools    were 
established,  and  a  printing-press  was  at  work.     In  three  years  it  was 
larger  than  New  York  in  half  a  century.     Well  might  Penn  observe, 
that  he  might  without  vanity   say  that  he   had  led  the  greatest 
colony  into  America  that  ever  man  did  on  private  credit,  and  that 
the  most  prosperous  beginnings  which  ever  were  are  to  be  found 
among  them.     Well  might  he  say  so  ;  for  in  1682  alone,  the  year  in 
which  Philadelphia  was  founded,  twenty-two  vessels,  bringing  over 
2,000  persons,  arrived.     Many,  coming  late  in  the  autumn,  took  up 
their  temporary  abode  in  caves  dug  in  the  river  banks  to  receive 
them ;  and  provisions  falling  short,  they  were  fed,  as  if  by  Providence, 
by  unusual  flocks  of  pigeons  and  extraordinary  "  draughts  of  fishes," 
while  the   friendly  Indians  themselves  brought  them  game  which 
they  had  hunted. 

In  March,  the  second  legislative  assembly  of  the  province  was  held 
in  Philadelphia,  though  many  of  the  inhabitants  as  yet  lived  in  hollow 
trees.  Fifty-four  representatives,  nine  from  each  of  the  six  counties, 
"  Swedes,  Dutch  and  quaker  preachers,"  were  appointed  to  draw 
up  a  charter  of  liberties  which  altered  and  amended  the  previous 
laws ;  William  Penn  having  liberally  announced  at  the  opening  of 
the  assembly,  that  as  regarded  the  frame  of  government  prepared  in 


(1683.)    LEGISLATION  OF  PENN — HIS  VISIT  TO  LOP.D  BALTIMORE.  287 

England,  "  they  might  amend,  alter,  or  add,  and  that  he  was  ready  to 
settle  such  foundations  as  might  be  for  their  happiness."  This  principle 
of  legislating  for  the  happiness  of  the  people  was  ever  acknowledged 
by  Penn.  To  his  dying  day  he  declared,  even  though  in  this  Eden  of 
his  planting  many  poison  growths  had  sprung  up  which  embittered 
his  life,  that  if  the  people  needed  anything  to  make  them  happier,  he 
would  grant  it.  The  constitution  now  established  was  democratic, 
with  the  exception  of  an  hereditary  proprietary,  whose  power,  how- 
ever, was  controlled  by  the  people.  As  regarded  a  revenue,  he  was 
offered  a  tax  on  all  exports,  as  was  the  case  in  Maryland,  the  revenue 
of  Lord  Baltimore  being  derived  from  a  tax  on  tobacco ;  but  this  he 
declined,  unwilling  to  "  burden  his  colony  with  taxes."  What  a  contrast 
is  this  to  the  views  taken  by  the  Lords  Culpepper,  Arlington  and  Love- 
lace !  Orphan  courts  were  established  for  administering  the  affairs  of 
deceased  persons,  and  for  the  prevention  of  lawsuits  three  "  peace- 
makers "  were  appointed  in  each  county,  thus  carrying  out  the  quaker 
principle  of  arbitration  instead  of  action  at  law.  Liberal  and  upright 
as  was  Penn's  conduct  as  head  of  a  government,  a  signal  mistake  was 
made  by  the  incompatible  union  of  two  opposing  elements,  democracy 
and  feudality;  Penn's  principles  accorded  to  his  colony  the  utmost 
popular  liberty,  but  his  circumstances  made  him  absolute  ruler. 
Hence  for  ninety  years  Pennsylvania  was  distracted  with  the  jarring 
of  these  two  discordant  elements. 

Penn,  soon  after  his  arrival  in  America,  visited  Lord  Baltimore  in 
Maryland,  partly  as  a  visit  of  friendship,  and  partly  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  boundaries,  which  from  the  very  first  was  an  intricate  and 
perplexing  question.  The  defined  boundaries,  both  of  Penn's  and 
Baltimore's  charter,  were  inconsistent  with  each  other,  more  espe- 
cially as  the  number  of  miles  contained  in  a  degree  was  now 
altered  to  sixty-nine  from  sixty,  by  which  measurement  Baltimore's 
grant  had  been  made.  This  question  was  no  way  adjusted,  when 
Penn,  in  1634,  having  organised,  as  he  hoped,  a  satisfactory  govern- 
ment, entered  into  a  treaty  of  lasting  peace  with  the  natives,  and 
seen  his  city  and  his  colony  nourishing  in  unexampled  prosperity, 
returned  to  England,  "  intrusting  the  great  seal  to  his  friend  Lloyd, 
one  of  the  principal  quaker  settlers,  and  the  executive  power  to  a 
committee  of  the  council." 


288  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

As  yet  not  a  cloud  dimmed  the  social  or  civil  horizon  of  Penn- 
sylvania ;  and  leaving  his  mansion  of  Pennsbury,  "  the  sweet  quiet " 
of  which  seems  to  have  been  delicious  to  his  soul,  he  thus  wrote,  on 
board,  a  farewell  to  the  people  of  his  land  of  promise,  which  he  sent 
to  them  before  he  sailed  : — "  My  love  and  my  life,"  said  he,  "  are  to 
you  and  with  you,  and  no  water  can  quench  it,  nor  distance  bring  it 
to  an  end.  I  have  been  with  you,  cared  for  you,  and  served  you 
with  unfeigned  love ;  and  you  are  beloved  of  me  and  dear  to  me 
beyond  utterance.  I  bless  you  in  the  name  and  power  of  the  Lord, 
and  may  God  bless  you  with  his  righteousness,  peace  and  plenty  all 
the  land  over  !  You  are  come  to  a  quiet  land,"  continued  he,  "  and 
liberty  and  authority  are  in  your  hands.  Rule  for  Him  under  whom 
the  princes  of  this  world  will  one  day  esteem  it  their  honour  to'govern." 
Then,  addressing  the  city  which  he  had  planted,  he  breaks  forth  like 
an  apostle  to  one  of  the  churches  :  "  And  thou  Philadelphia,  the 
virgin  settlement  of  this  province,  my  soul  prays  to  God  for  thee  that 
thou  mayst  stand  in  the  day  of  trial,  and  that  thy  children  may  be 
blessed." 

William  Penn  reached  London  in  October,  1684,  after  an  absence 
of  two  years ;  and  the  hot  dispute  between  himself  and  Lord 
Baltimore,  regarding  boundaries,  was  submitted  to  a  Committee  of 
Trade  and  Plantations,  by  which  it  was  decided  that  the  so-called 
Territories,  now  constituting  the  state  of  Delaware,  and  which  Lord 
Baltimore  claimed,  formed  no  part  of  Maryland.  They  were  there- 
fore once  move  formally  assigned  to  Penn,  to  whom  was  thus  secured 
that  outlet  to  the  ocean  which  he  so  much  coveted.  The  northern  line 
of  boundary  was  settled  the  following  year,  and  that  again  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  Baltimore. 

When  the  Duke  of  York  ascended  the  throne  as  James  II.,  Penn 
used  his  influence  with  him  to  obtain  general  liberty  of  conscience  ; 
and  through  his  means  1,200  Quakers  alone  were  liberated  from 
imprisonment  for  conscience-sake.  Nor  did  his  own  people  only 
claim  his  interposition  of  mercy ;  it  was  suffering  humanity  for  which 
he  appealed,  and  so  widely  extended  was  the  reputation  of  his 
philanthropy  and  power,  that  all  the  oppressed  thronged  to  him  for 
aid ;  even  Massachusetts,  just  then  in  the  agony  of  losing  her  charter, 
sent  to  the  head  of  "  the  abominable  sect  of  Quakers  "  to  beseech  his 


(1685.)      WORKS  OF  PENN — HIS  CHEQUERED  CAREER.         289 

interference  on  tlieir  behalf  with  the  king.  And  though  he  could 
not  save  the  chartered  liberties  of  the  other  sister-states,  yet  so  great 
was  the  esteem  with  which  the  monarch  regarded  him,  that  Penn- 
sylvania was  the  only  one  against  whose  charter  a  quo  ivarranto  was 
not  issued. 

It  has  been  endeavoured  to  throw  obloquy  on  Penn's  name  from 
his  political  connexion  with  James  II. ;  but  as  the  tree  must  be  known 
by  its  fruits,  Penn's  reputation  may  safely  be  left  to  the  test  of  his 
works.  He  founded  a  state  based  on  the  most  liberal  principles} 
self-exaltation  or  self-aggrandisement  never  formed  a  part  of  his 
plan;  and  the  soundness  of  his  legislative  wisdom  is  shown  by 
the  fundamental  principles  of  his  government  remaining  to  be 
those  of  Pennsylvania  to  the  present  time.  Penn's  happiness  in  his 
province  was,  like  all  human  happiness,  of  a  very  mixed  character. 
Discontents  and  heart-burnings  arose ;  a  democratic  assembly  warred 
against  a  feudal  proprietary,  each  wronging  the  other,  because  they 
were  brought  into  unnatural  juxtaposition.  Besides  the  anxieties 
arising  from  the  dissatisfied  condition  of  a  province  which  he  had 
established  with  so  much  care  and  hope,  Penn  was  harassed  by 
•embarrassed  circumstances.  Nobly  refusing  a  revenue  from  his 
state,  he  was  imprisoned  for  debt  in  his  advancing  years ;  and,  to 
add  still  further  to  his  distress,  when  his  friend  James  II.  was 
deposed,  and  an  exile  in  France,  he  was  imprisoned  on  an  unsupported 
charge  of  keeping  up  a  treasonable  correspondence  with  him.  In 
1692,  the  government  of  Pennsylvania  was  taken  from  him,  and 
placed  in  the  hands  of  Fletcher,  governor  of  New  York.  Two  years 
afterwards,  the  suspicions  against  him  being  removed,  he  was  restored 
to  his  rights — "  the  Territories,"  or  three  lower  counties  on  the 
Delaware,  which  in  1691  had  withdrawn  from  their  connexion  with 
Pennsylvania  and  been  indulged  with  a,  deputy-governor  by  Penn, 
now  becoming  once  more  a  portion  of  his  jurisdiction,  having  been 
reunited  to  the  larger  state  by  Fletcher,  during  his  governorship. 

The  only  drawback  that  appears  in  the  character  of  the  philan- 
thropic legislator  of  Pennsylvania,  is  at  the  same  time  so  incongruous 
with  the  spirit  of  his  life  and  actions,  that  it  seems  to  stand  forth  in 
startling  deformity.  This  refers  to  negro  slaves,  whom  he  held 
apparently  without  much  sense  of  injustice.  True,  he  used  his 

VOL.  i.  13 


290  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

influence  to  insure  the  slave  "  moral  and  religious  culture,  and  the 
rights  and  comforts  of  domestic  life,"  yet,  when  he  was  unsuccessful 
in  so  doing,  he  continued  to  hold  slaves,  as,  indeed,  did  other 
Friends.  The  poor  Germans,  "the  little  handful  of  Friends  from 
the  highlands  ahove  the  Rhine,"  in  accordance  with  the  doctrines 
of  George  Fox,  were  the  only  body  in  Pennsylvania  who  at  that  time 
saw  clearly  that  it  was  not  lawful  for  Christians  to  keep  slaves.  The 
unlettered  Swedes,  half  a  century  before,  who  settled  on  the  west- 
ern bank  of  the  Delaware,  and  now  were  numbered  among  William 
Penn's  people  had,  however,  early  borne  their  testimony  against 
slavery.  "  The  Swedes,"  said  they,  arguing  from  the  sound  prin- 
ciple of  human  nature,  "will  gain  more  with  a  free  people,  with 
wives  and  children,  than  by  slaves,  who  labour  with  reluctance  and 
soon  perish  by  hard  usage."  The  simple  wisdom  of  these  peasants 
was,  in  this  respect,  superior  to  the  wisdom  of  more  elevated  men 
•whether  of  that  age  or  the  present. 


(1632.)  THE  FRENCH  IN  CANADA.  291 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

NEW  FRANCE.— DISCOVERIES  IN  THE  REGION  OF  THE  GREAT  LAKES. 

WE  have  already  spoken  of  the  early  French  discoveries  in  Canada, 
or  New  France,  the  settlements  on  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  the  St. 
Lawrence,  the  founding  of  Quebec  and  Montreal,  of  Champlain's  expe- 
ditions southward,  and  his  discovery  of  the  lake  which  still  bears  his 
name.  The  English  colonists,  from  Maine  to  South  Carolina,  whom 
we  have  seen  firmly  plant  themselves  on  the  new  soil,  occupied  as 
yet,  comparatively  speaking,  merely  the  sea-coast,  and  engaged  as 
they  were  in  agriculture  and  maritime  trade,  had  little  time  or 
inclination  for  inland  exploration.  For  three-quarters  of  a  century 
their  knowledge  of  the  interior  was  derived  from  the  Indians  and 
from  French  discoverers. 

Besides,  as  regarded  the  New  England  States,  the  formidable  belt 
of  the  Iroquois  territory,  or  the  territory  of  the  Five  Nations,  which 
formed  their  western  boundary,  effectually  prevented  them  whilst  in 
their  earlier  stage  from  advancing  far  in  that  direction.  This  most 
powerful  of  the  Indian  confederacies  consisted  of  the  five  nations  of 
Senecas,  Cayugas,  Onondagas,  Oncidas  and  Mohawks,  who  occupied 
a  vast  extent  of  country  between  the  St.  Lawrence,  Lake  Champlain, 
and  the  upper  waters  of  the  Hudson,  including  the  great  lakes  of 
Ontario  and  Erie,  as  far  north  as  Lake  Huron  and  the  Georgian  Bay. 
It  was  this  formidable  barrier  which,  while  it  prevented  the  Dutch 
from  exploring  the  Hudson  to  the  north,  had  already  prevented  the 
French  from  descending  the  same  river,  when  Champlain  had  dis- 
covered the  heads  of  the  stream. 

The  French  fur-traders  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  its  tributaries 
were  necessarily  brought  into  connexion  with  the  Indian,  but  not 


292  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

alone  was  this  the  case  with  the  French  trader ;  the  French  mis- 
sionary kept  pace  with  him,  and  even  went  far  a-head,  and  became 
the  great  European  explorer  of  the  interior  of  North  America. 

We  have  seen  with  admiration,  the  zeal  of  Eliot  and  his  coadjutors 
in  Christianising  the  feeble  remains  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  New 
England  ;  and  George  Fox  and  his  friends  equally  nobly  preaching 
to  those  of  Maryland,  Carolina  and  Virginia,  as  to  "  men  and 
brethren  "  in  whose  souls  the  Divine  Voice  had  an  utterance  as  well 
as  in  their  own ;  we  have  seen  William  Penn  legislating  for  them 
equally  as  for  the  whites,  and  forming  with  them  a  covenant  of  peace 
which  has  obtained  a  world-wide  reputation.  But  the  Christian  zeal 
and  uprightness  of  these  men  was  far  surpassed  in  intensity  by  the 
devotedness,  the  constancy,  and  the  heroism  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
of  New  France,  who  in  their  earnestness  to  save  the  souls  of  the 
heathen,  died  the  death  of  martyrs  and  counted  their  loss  great  gain 
in  Christ. 

Too  little  is  known  by  general  English  readers  of  this  affecting 
portion  of  American  history,  which  is  unsurpassed  by  anything  we 
have  yet  related. 

When,  in  1632,  Quebec  was  restored  to  the  French,  a  hundred 
associates,  Richelieu,  Champlain  and  various  opulent  merchants 
being  of  the  number,  obtained  a  grant  of  New  France  from  Louis 
XIII.,  the  grant  including  "  the  whole  basin  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
of  such  other  rivers  of  New  France  as  flowed  into  the  sea,  besides 
Florida,  which  was  claimed  as  a  French  province  by  virtue  of 
Coligny's  unsuccessful  efforts."  Champlain,  the  governor  of  Ncv/ 
France,  a  man  of  a  religious  mind,  who  had  already  declared  that  the 
salvation  of  a  soul  was  worth  more  than  the  conquest  of  an  empire, 
was  the  earnest  supporter  of  missionary  labours.  As  missionaries 
of  New  France,  he  would  have  selected  priests  of  the  Franciscan  or 
mendicant  order,  as  being  "  free  from  ambition ; "  but  he  was  over- 
ruled, and  the  mission  of  converting  the  heathens  of  the  New  World 
was  intrusted  alone  to  the  Jesuits.  They  had  here  the  monopoly  of 
souls.  Their  labours,  however,  were  of  the  most  apostolic  character. 
"  They  had,"  says  Bancroft,  "  the  faults  of  ascetic  superstition,  but 
the  horrors  of  a  Canadian  life  in  the  wilderness  were  resisted  with 
invincible  passive  courage  and  a  deep  internal  tranquillity.  The  his- 


(1634.)   VILLAGES  OF  ST.  LOUIS  AND  ST.  IGNATIUS  ON  THE  HURON.       293 

tory  of  their  labours  is  connected  with  the  origin  of  every  celebrated 
town  in  the  annals  of  French  America ;  not  a  cape  was  turned, 
no  a  river  entered,  but  a  Jesuit  led  the  way." 

In  1634,  two  Jesuits,  Brebeuf  and  Daniel,  left  Quebec  in  company 
with  a  party  of  Huron  Indians,  who  inhabited  the  wild  forest 
regions  east  of  the  lake  which  bears  their  name.  The  journey  was 
one  of  "  three  hundred  leagues,  now  through  the  wild  forest,  now 
ascending  the  Ottawa,  the  great  western  tributary  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence, an  impetuous  river,  abounding  in  falls,  where  the  canoe  had  to 
be  carried  for  leagues  on  the  shoulders."  Thus  by  day  encountering 
the  perils  and  hardships  of  a  journey  through  this  savage  country,  and 
at  night  sleeping  on  the  earth,  they  at  length  reached  the  Manitou- 
Hn,  or  Georgian  Bay,  the  eastern  branch  of  Lake  Huron.  On  the 
borders  of  this  lake  a  mission  was  soon  established,  and  a  little  chapel 
erected,  "  built  by  the  aid  of  the  axe,"  and  consecrated  to  St.  Joseph, 
where  mass  was  celebrated  and  matins  and  vespers  chanted,  and  the 
host  administered  to  the  Huron  converts,  who,  touched  by  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Saviour,  promulgated  by  these  his  devoted  ministers, 
thronged  to  receive  the  symbols  of  divine  love.  The  Christian  vil- 
lages of  St.  Louis  and  St.  Ignatius  arose  in  the  wilderness,  and  the 
praises  of  God  and  Christ  resounded  in  the  Huron  tongue.  For 
fifteen  years  this  successful  mission  was  continued,  other  missionaries 
being  soon  attracted  to  this  field  of  labour ;  for  we  are  told  by  Ban- 
croft, from,  whom  we  shall  freely  borrow  in  this  portion  of  our  history, 
that  "  now  and  then  one  of  these  fathers  would  make  a  voyage  to 
Quebec  in  a  canoe,  with  two  or  three  savages,  paddle  in  hand,  exhausted 
with  rowing,  his  feet  naked,  his  breviary  hanging  about  his  neck,  his 
shirt  unwashed,  his  cassock  half-torn  off  his  lean  body,  but  with  a  face 
full  of  content,  charmed  with  the  life  which  he  led,  and  inspiring  by 
his  air  and  by  his  words  a  strong  desire  to  join  him  in  his  mission." 

Jean  de  Brebeuf,  the  Huron  missionary,  was  an  ecstatic  in  his 
sufferings  and  devotions.  Not  satisfied  with  the  toil  and  subjection 
of  his  body  consequent  on  his  arduous  labours,  he  subjected  himself 
to  the  rigours  of  penance  and  self-mortification,  and  was  rewarded 
with  beatific  visions  which  exalted  his  pious  raptures  into  ecstacy, — 
"  What  shall  I  render  to  thee,  Jesus,  my  Lord,  for  all  thy  benefits  ?  I 


294  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

will  accept  thy  cup  and  invoke  thy  name  !  "  exclaimed  he,  and  regis- 
tered a  vow  before  God  and  the  fiost  of  heaven,  before  St.  Joseph  and 
other  saints,  "  never  to  shrink  from  martyrdom  for  Christ's  sake,  but 
to  receive  the  death-blow  only  with  joy ! " 

The  life  of  Brebeuf  in  the  wilderness  was  like  an  unceasing  hymn. 
Now  he  was  instructing  his  youthful  neophytes,  who  regarded  him 
with  a  reverential  love ;  now  he  was  passing  slowly  through  the 
village  and  the  neighbouring  forest,  ringing  a  bell  as  the  signal  for 
older  converts  or  inquirers  to  assemble  for  a  religious  conference ; 
and  so  great  was  his  influence  on  the  minds  of  the  sages  and  warriors 
of  the  forest,  that  he  won,  not  only  their  listening  ear,  but  inspired 
many  of  them  with  a  profound  friendship  for  him.  Of  this  class  was 
the  great  warrior  Ahasistari,  whose  mind  was  of  a  singularly  high 
character.  It  was  thus  that  he  acknowledged  his  faith  in  Jesus, 
whom,  unconsciously,  he  had  long  worshipped :  "  Before  you  came," 
said  he,  "  into  this  country,  when  I  have  been  in  the  greatest  perils, 
and  have  alone  escaped,  I  have  said  to  myself,  some  powerful  spirit 
has  the  guardianship  of  my  days."  Ahasistari  was  baptized,  and 
with  a  zeal  kindred  to  that  of  his  spiritual  father  and  friend, 
exclaimed,  addressing  a  number  of  other  converts,  "  Let  us  strive 
to  make  the  whole  world  embrace  the  faith  in  Jesus." 

These  missionary  labours  being  crowned  with  success,  a  central 
station  was  fixed  at  St.  Mary's  on  the  Matchedash,  the  river  which 
connects  the  Toronto  and  Huron  lakes,  and  "  here  three  thousand 
Indian  converts  received  in  one  year  a  frugal  welcome." 

These  joyful  tidings  awoke  an  enthusiasm  in  France  on  its  behalf; 
the  king,  the  queen,  the  princesses,  the  very  pope  himself,  vied  in 
their  evidence  of  favour.  Young  nobles,  renouncing  the  pleasures  of 
the  world,  joined  the  missionary  corps  and  devoted  their  revenues  to 
its  service.  Thus  was  a  Jesuit  college  and  school  for  Indian  children 
established  at  Quebec,  about  the  time  that  the  Puritan  College  of 
Cambridge  was  established  in  Massachusetts :  thus  did  the  niece  of 
Cardinal  Richelieu  endow  a  public  hospital  open  to  all  mankind,  in 
which  young  nuns  from  the  hospital  of  Dieppe  were  sent  over  :  thus 
was  an  Ursuline  convent  for  the  education  of  girls  founded  by  a 
young  and  wealthy  widow  of  Alen9on,  who  went  with  three  nuns  to 


(1641.)  MISSIONARY   LABOURS   AMONG   THE    INDIANS.  295 

Quebec  for  this  purpose,  and  who,  kissing  the  soil  of  their  adopted 
country  as  they  landed,  were  received  by  the  governor  and  Indians 
shouting  for  joy  of  their  welcome,  whence  they  were  escorted  to  the 
church  with  chanted  Te  Deums. 

Missionary  labours  having  now  acquired  a  national  importance, 
Montreal  was  converted,  with  many  religious  ceremonies,  into  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Christianised  Indians,  intended  to  form  a  post 
of  communication  between  Quebec  and  Lake  Huron.  Champlain, 
the  governor,  being  now  dead,  was  succeeded  by  M.  de  Montmagny. 
There  were  at  this  time  upwards  of  fifty  missionaries  employed ; 
twice  or  thrice  a  year  they  assembled  at  St.  Mary's,  the  rest  of  the 
time  they  were  scattered  among  the  Indians.  These  adventurous  men 
not  only  carried  the  gospel  of  Christ  into  the  wilderness,  and  to  the 
hitherto  unknown  inhabitants  on  the  banks  of  vast  lakes  and  rivers, 
but  every  year  extended  the  geographical  knowledge  of  the  interior. 

Within  very  few  years  after  the  commencement  of  these  labours, 
a  scheme  was  formed  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  south  of  Lake  Huron, 
to  Lalse  Michigan  and  Green  Bay,  thus  advancing  into  the  immense 
regions  of  the  north-west  and  west.  Views,  as  it  were,  were  opened 
up  into  the  remote  wilderness,  by  the  occasional  visits  at  some  mis- 
sionary out-post  of  Indians  from  remote  nations,  who  reported  of 
distant  rivers  and  regions  where  as  yet  the  white  man  was  unknown. 
Thus  came  a  chief  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  others  from 
the  wandering  Algonquins.  The  French  had  as  yet  been  kept  from 
the  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  and  the  more  southern  waters  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  by  the  determined  hostility  of  the  Mohawks,  so  that  their 
access  to  the  west  was  by  the  river  Ottawa ;  although  Brebeuf  had 
visited  the  neutral  tribes  about  Niagara. 

In  1641,  Charles  Raymbault  and  Claude  Pijart  appeared  as  mission- 
aries among  the  Algonquins  of  Lake  Nipissing.  It  was  towards  the 
close  of  summer  when  the  Jesuits  arrived,  and  the  great  festival  of 
the  dead  was  about  to  be  celebrated  by  these  wandering  tribes.  To 
this  ceremony  all  the  confederated  nations  assembled,  their  canoes 
covering  the  waters  of  the  lake  as  they  advanced  towards  a  bay  on 
the  shores  of  which  the  ceremony  was  to  take  place.  As  the  boats 
approached,  they  were  received  with  shouts  which  echoed  among  the 
rocks.  Beneath  a  long  shed  lay  the  bones  of  the  dead  in  coffins  of 


296  HISTOKY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

bark,  incased  in  rich  furs ;  all  night  long  the  mourning-song  of  the 
war-chiefs  was  chanted,  accompanied  by  the  wailing  of  the  women. 
When  these  savage  but  mournful  ceremonies  were  ended,  the  Jesuits 
made  known  their  wish  of  penetrating  the  more  distant  wilderness, 
and  conveying  thither  the  light  of  a  new  and  milder  religion,  and 
by  their  presents  and  gentle  words  so  won  upon  the  savages,  that  an 
invitation  was  given  to  visit  the  nation  of  the  Chippewas  below  the 
falls  of  St.  Mary. 

The  invitation  was  gladly  accepted,  and  Charles  Raymbault,  with 
Isaac  Jogues  as  his  companion,  set  out  on  this  long  and  arduous 
journey.  After  crossing  Lake  Huron,  which  occupied  seventeen  days, 
they  arrived  at  the  straits  which  connect  it  with  Lake  Superior, 
where  two  thousand  persons  were  met  to  receive  them.  Making 
known,  on  their  part,  the  religion  of  Christ,  they  heard  of  Indian 
nations  eighteen  days'  journey  still  further  to  the  west — the  far- 
famed  Sioux — with  fixed  abodes,  and  who  cultivated  maize  and 
tobacco,  but  whose  race  and  language  were  unknown. 

The  chiefs  of  the  Chippewas  received  the  envoys  of  Christianity 
with  kindness,  and  invited  them  to  remain.  Raymbault,  after  lan- 
guishing a  year  in  consumption,  returned  to  Quebec  to  die.  Jogues 
was  ascending  the  St.  Lawrence  with  Ahasistari  and  other  Huron 
chiefs,  when  a  war-party  of  Mohawks,  enemies  alike  to  the  French 
and  the  Huron s,  lying  in  wait  for  them,  attacked  them  as  they 
approached  the  shore  to  land.  Jogues  might  have  escaped,  but  he 
would  not  desert  his  companions,  some  of  whom  were  unbaptized  con- 
verts. The  brave  and  noble-hearted  Ahasistari  had  already  fled  to  a  • 
secure  covert,  when  seeing  Jogues  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  he  came 
forth,  saying,  "  My  brother,  I  made  an  oath  to  thee  that  I  would  share 
thy  fortune,  whether  life  or  death ;  here  am  I  to  keep  my  word." 

The  captives  were  marched  away  in  triumph  to  the  Mohawk  country. 
In  three  successive  villages  Jogues  was  compelled  to  run  the  gauntlet ; 
on  one  of  which  dreadful  occasion  she  rejoiced  his  soul  by  "  a  vision 
of  the  glory  of  the  Queen  of  Heaven."  Again,  when  consumed  with 
hunger  and  thirst,  an  ear  of  Indian  corn  on  the  stalk  being  thrown 
to  him,  he  found  cause  of  exultation  in  the  few  drops  of  water  con- 
tained in  the  curl  of  the  leaf,  because  they  sufficed  to  baptize  two 
captive  neophytes !  The  brave  Ahasistari  perished  in  the  flames, 


(1645.)  ESCAPE  OF  JOGUES — INDIAN  ASSEMBLY  AT  THREE  E1VEES.      297 

having  received  absolution,  "with  all  the  courage  of  a  Christian 
martyr  and  the  stoicism  of  an  Indian  chief."  A  young  Indian  con- 
vert too,  having  marked  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  an  infant's  brow, 
was  struck  with  a  tomahawk,  in  the  belief  that  he  was  aiming  to 
destroy  the  child  by  a  charm, 

Jogues  expected  a  similar  fate,  but  his  life  was  spared ;  and  roam- 
ing through  the  forest  of  the  Mohawk,  he  carved  the  cross  and  the 
name  of  Christ  on  the  bark  of  trees ;  and  advancing  thus  to  the  con- 
fines of  the  Mohawk  country,  was  ransomed  by  Van  Cuyler,  the 
Dutch  commandant  of  Albany,  on  the  Hudson.  To  reach  Canada 
again  Jogues  was  obliged  to  return  to  France.  He  was  shipwrecked 
however,  on  the  English  coast  near  Falmouth,  and  falling  into  hands 
as  merciless  as  the  Iroquois,  was  plundered  by  wreckers  even  of  the 
clothes  from  his  back.  Father  Bressani,  another  Jesuit — who  on  his 
way  from  the  Hurons  was  taken  captive  by  the  Iroquois,  and  having 
seen  his  companion  furnish  a  cannibal  feast,  was  stripped  and  ill-used 
till  his  life  only  was  left — was  saved  also  by  the  humanity  of  the 
Dutch. 

In  1645,  the  French  desirous  of  establisning  peace  with  the  Five 
Nations,  a  great  assembly  took  place  at  Three  Rivers,  a  little  above 
Montreal,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  where  were  present  the  French 
officers  in  full  uniform  and  five"  Indian  sachems  in  all  their  bravery. 
Speeches  were  made  in  the  figurative  style  of  the  Indians,  with  great 
professions  of  everlasting  peace,  the  Algonquins  being  a  party  thereto. 
"  We  have  thrown,"  said  the  Mohawk  orator,  "  the  hatchet  so  high 
in  the  air,  and  beyond  the  skies,  that  no  arm  on  earth  can  reach  to 
bring  it  down.  The  shades  of  our  braves  that  have  fallen  in  war 
have  gone  so  deep  into  the  earth,  that  they  never  can  be  heard  calling 
for  revenge." 

Peace  being  assured,  and  having  been  preserved  through  one 
winter,  Father  Jogues  desirous,  of  establishing  a  mission  among  the 
Five  Nations,  and  being  the  only  person  who  understood  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Onondagas,  set  out  as  its  founder  in  the  month  of  June. 
His  mind  seemed  prophetic  of  his  fate,  and  his  last  words  to  his 
Christian  brethren  wrere,  "  Ibo  ei  non  redibo  !"  I  shall  go,  but  shall 
never  return.  And  so  it  was.  Arrived  in  the  Mohawk  country,  he 
was  taken  prisoner,  on  charge  of  having  blighted  the  corn.  He  met 

13* 


298  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

his  death  with  composure ;  his  head  was  hung  on  the  palisade  of  the 
Indian  village,  and  his  body  thrown  into  the  peaceful  Mohawk 
River.  Nor  did  the  Jesuits  alone  satisfy  themselves  with 
penetrating  to  the  east.  Gabriel  Dreuilletts,  accompanied  by  an 
Indian  guide,  crossed  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  sources  of  the  Kenne- 
bec  in  Maine ;  and  descending  that  river,  reached  a  missionary 
station  of  the  Franciscans  on  the  Penobscot,  established  several  years 
before  by  D'Aulney.  Leaving  these,  his  Christian  brethren,  he 
established  himself  in  the  remoter  wilderness,  where  a  chapel  was 
built,  and  Indian  converts  gathered  around  him. 

As  regarded  their  intercourse  with  the  Indians,  the  versatile 
French  seemed  to  acquire  much  greater  influence  over  these  children 
of  the  forest  than  the  stern  and  uncompromising  settlers  of  New 
England.  The  remarks  of  the  historian  Hildreth  on  this  subject 
deserve  attention.  "  The  French  missionaries,  better  acquainted  with 
human  nature  and  the  philosophy  of  religion,  were  more  moderate  in 
their  demands  and  more  tender  in  their  treatment.  Though  them- 
selves enthusiasts  of  the  highest  pitch,  they  asked  not  so  much  of 
their  converts  ecstacies  and  metaphysicg  as  admiring  reverence  and 
ceremonial  observances,  which  ever  constitute  the  religion  of  the 
multitude.  Themselves  in  the  highest  degree  self-denying  and 
ascetic,  surpassing  in  this  respect  even  their  puritan  rivals,  they  yet 
looked  with  fatherly  indulgence  on  the  human  weaknesses  and  easily- 
besetting  sins  of  their  converts.  These  converts  were  admitted  to  all 
the  privileges  of  French  subjects ;  intermarriages  became  frequent — 
for  prejudices  of  caste  were  much  less  strong  on  the  part  of  the 
French  than  of  the  English — and  thence  resulted  a  mixed  race  ;  the 
Canadian  couriers  of  the  woods,  boatmen  and  woodsmen,  combining 
the  hardihood  and  activity  of  the  Indian,  with  the  more  docile, 
manageable  and  persevering  temper  of  the  French.  There  were 
dozens  of  Jesuit  missionaries  employed  in  New  France,  not  less 
zealous  than  Eliot,  and  far  more  enterprising,  whose  travels  and 
adventures  show  religious  influences  and  theocratic  ideas  not  less 
operative  in  the  first  exploration  of  the  distant  "West,  than  in  the 
original  settlement  of  New  England." 

After  the  display  of  Iroquois  ferocity,  and  the  murder  of  Jogues,  of 
which  that  seemed  the  signal,  war  was  resumed.     The  proud  Iroquois 


(1646.)       INDIAN  CRUELTIES — HEEOISM  OF  THE  MISSIONARIES. 

determined  on  the  destruction  or  dispersion  of  the  Hurons  and  Wyan- 
dots,  and  the  missionaries  labouring  among  these  nations  shared 
their  fate.  On  the  morning  of  July  4,  1618,  the  village  of  St.  Joseph, 
in  the  absence  of  the  Indians,  who  were  on  the  chase,  and  when  only 
women  and  children  remained,  was  surprised  by  a  war-party  of 
Mohawks.  The  village  was  fared,  and  the  remorseless  tomahawk 
began  its  bloody  work.  The  terrified  women  and  children  flocked 
round  the  missionary,  Father  Daniel,  who  seeing  the  destruction 
which  was  at  hand,  hastened  through  the  village,  speaking  words  of 
Christian  comfort  and  baptizing  the  dying.  "When  the  enemy 
advanced  to  the  chapel,  the  calm,  devoted  preacher  stood  before  them 
to  oppose  their  entrance  of  the  sacred  building.  For  a  moment  they 
were  awe-stricken,  and  paused  as  if  to  retire;  the  next  they  dis- 
charged against  him  a  shower  of  arrows.  Bleeding  from  many 
wounds,  he  lifted  up  his  hands  and  voice,  and  overpowering  the 
yells  of  the  savages  by  his  words  of  pity  and  forgiveness,  he  received 
finally  his  death-blow  from  a  hatchet.  The  following  winter,  in  the 
dead  of  night,  a  thousand  Iroquois  warriors  attacked  the  village  of 
St.  Ignatius  and  murdered  its  four  hundred  inhabitants ;  the  same 
fate  befel  St.  Louis,  in  which  dwelt  the  missionaries  Brebeuf  and 
Lallemand.  Both  could  have  escaped,  but  that  their  Christian  zeal 
and  love  forbade  them  to  desert  converts  who  might  need  baptism  in 
the  hour  of  death.  Faithful  to  the  last,  these  servants  of  Christ, 
having  spent  their  lives  in  works  of  love,  died  as  martyrs.  Bre- 
beuf for  three  hours,  and  Lallemand  for  seventeen,  were  subjected  to 
the  direst  Indian  tortures,  the  stoic  Indians  themselves  beholding  with 
amazement  the  firmness  of  their  victims.  Wonderful  was  the  Chris- 
tian heroism  of  these  missionaries.  The  history  of  man  hardly  con- 
tains any  greater.  Charlevoix  says  truly,  writing  of  these  men,  "  The 
Lord  communicates  himself  without  measure  to  those  who  sacrifice 
themselves  without  reserve."  And,  speaking  of  them  personally,  he 
adds,  "  I  myself  knew  some  of  them  in  my  youth,  and  I  found  them 
such  as  I  have  painted  them,  bending  under  the  labour  of  a  long 
apostleship,  with  bodies  exhausted  by  fatigues  and  broken  with  age, 
but  still  preserving  all  the  vigour  of  the  apostolic  spirit." 

It  had  been  the  desire  of  the  missionaries,   after   this   Huron 
calamity,  to  have  collected  the  scattered  remains  of  the  nation  on  the 


300  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Grand  Manitoulin  Isle,  in  Lake  Huron.  But  it  was  not  accom- 
plished. The  Huron  nation  -was  never  again  to  be  collected,  and  the 
station  on  the  Manitoulin  was  abandoned. 

The  pride  of  the  Iroquois  increased  with  their  successes,  even  as 
the  zeal  of  the  missionaries  grew  with  their  sufferings,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  formidable  Five  Nations  became  now  the  object  of 
their  desire  ;  but  this  object  was  too  vast  even  for  their  accomplish- 
ment. The  Iroquois,  possessed  of  fire-arms  obtained  from  the  Dutch, 
now  also  their  partisans,  resolved  on  the  extermination  of  the  French, 
and  their  war-parties  triumphed  at  Three  Rivers  and  advanced  to 
Quebec,  killing  the  governor  at  the  one  place,  and  a  priest  at  the 
other.  "  No  frightful  solitude  of  the  wilderness,"  says  Bancroft,  "  no 
impenetrable  recess  of  the  frozen  north,  was  safe  against  the  passions 
of  the  Five  Nations.  Their  chiefs,  animated  not  only  by  cruelty  but 
by  pride,  were  resolved  that  no  nation  should  rale  but  themselves." 

In  this  state  of  terrible  alarm,  beset  by  enemies  as  powerful  as  they 
were  remorseless,  New  France  despatched  one  of  her  council  and 
Father  Dreuillettes,  the  missionary  of  the  north-east,  to  ask  aid  from 
the  united  colonies  of  New  England  against  the  Mohawks ;  but  "  the 
story  of  their  sufferings,  and  their  murdered  missionaries,  were  listened 
to  with  indifference  :  no  aid  could  be  obtained  from  that  quarter." 
Nothing  was  left  for  them  but  to  suffer  or  to  help  themselves,  and  after 
they  had  remained  for  about  three  years  in  this  state  of  constant 
alarm,  the  Iroquois  consented  to  peace. 

According  to  Indian  custom,  numoers  of  tne  vanquished  Hurons 
had  been  adopted  into  the  nation  and  families  of  the  conquerors ;  and 
many  of  these  carried  thus  with  them  into  the  bosom  of  the  Five 
Nations,  affection  for  the  French,  and  some  knowledge  of  Christi-. 
anity ;  and  when  Father  Le  Moyne  was  sent  as  envoy  to  ratify  the 
treaty  of  peace,  he  was  welcomed  by  a  party  of  his  old  Huron  friends. 
This  circumstance  awoke  in  his  soul  the  hope  that  those  mighty 
nations  might  be  converted  to  Christianity,  and  the  whole  west 
become  subject  to  France.  A  vaster  field  was  now  open  for  mis- 
sionary labour  than  before.  Le  Moyne  established  himself  on 
Mohawk  River,  arid  two  others,  Dablon  and  Chaumonot,  an  Italian 
priest  and  an  old  missionary  among  the  Hurons,  took  up  their  quarters 
at  Onondaga,  the  village  of  that  nation,  where  they  were  warmly 


(1657.)          CHAUMONOT'S  LABOURS  AMONG  THE  INDIANS.  301 

welcomed.  They  were  welcomed  also  by  the  Oneidas.  A  grand 
assembly  of  the  nations  gathered,  "  under  the  open  sky  and  among 
the  primeval  forests,"  to  receive  the  emissaries  of  Christ.  Chaumonot 
addressed  them  with  all  the  fervour  and  impassioned  eloquence  of  an 
Italian  orator,  and  his  Indian  audience  were  transported  out  of  them- 
selves. "Happy  land!"  sang  the  excited  chiefs,  "happy  land,  in 
which  the  French  are  to  dwell !  Glad  tidings !  glad  tidings !  It  is 
well  that  we  have  spoken  together;  it  is  well  that  we  have  a 
heavenly  message  ! " 

A  chapel  sprang,  as  it  were,  instantly  into  being,  for  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Indians  finished  it  in  a  day ;  and  the  services  of  the  Romish 
Church  were  chanted  in  the  Mohawk  tongue.  Christianity  was  thus 
planted  among  the  Onondagas,  who  dwelling  on  the  banks  of  the 
Oswego,  which  was  included  within  the  charter  of  the  Hundred 
Associates,  was  claimed  as  a  part  of  the  French  empire.  Chaumonot 
made  his  way  to  "  the  more  fertile  and  densely-peopled  land  "  of  the 
Senecas,  the  most  powerful  tribe  of  the  confederacy,  while  Rene 
Mesnard  was  reserved  as  a  missionary  by  the  Cayugas,  and  a  chapel 
erected  in  their  village,  the  interior  of  which  was  hung  with  mats,  on 
which,  were  displayed  pictures  of  the  Virgin  and  the  Infant  Saviour 
which  attracted  the  admiring  gaze  of  the  converts.  While  Christian 
missions  were  thus  established  throughout  the  other  nations,  the 
chapel  of  the  Onondagas  becoming  too  small  for  its  increasing 
worshippers,  was  enlarged,  and  for  a  moment  it  seemed  as  if  the 
religion  of  peace  had  taken  root  in  the  blood-stained  soil  of  the  Five 
Nations.  At  the  close  of  1657,  Jesuit  priests  published  their  faith 
from  the  Mohawk  to  the  Genesee,  Onondaga  remaining  the  central 
station.  A  little  colony  of  fifty  Frenchman  was  also  established  on 
the  Oswego.* 

But  neither  settlements  nor  missionary  labours  could  change  the 
nature  of  the  inveterate  savage.  A  war  of  extermination  was  carried 
on  by  them  against  their  neighbours,  the  Eries ;  and  the  tortures  of 
the  captives,  even  women  and  children,  which  were  brought  to  the 
villages,  called  forth  protests  from  the  missionaries.  These  excited 
the  displeasure  of  the  Indians,  and  three  Frenchmen  were  murdered. 
In  vain  was  aid  solicited  from  Canada ;  the  growing  ill-will  of  the 
*  Bancroft. 


302  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Onondagas  compelled  the  missionaries  to  abandon  their  chapel  and 
the  colonists  their  settlement.  The  Mohawks  obliged  Le  Moyne  to 
depart ;  and  the  following  year  war  again  broke  out  with  the  Five 
Nations. 

The  same  year  the  first  bishop  of  New  France,  the  able  Montigny} 
arrived  at  Quebec,  and  the  island  of  Montreal  having  been  granted  in 
fief  to  the  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice,  at  Paris,  a  deputation  of  monks 
came  over,  and  the  foundation  of  the  present  city  was  laid,  by  the 
establishment  of  a  hospital,  to  serve  in  which  religious  women  came 
from  France.  "To  the  unassisted  energy  of  Margeurite  Bourgeoise," 
says  Hildreth,  "  the  institution  of  the  Daughters  of  the  Congregation 
owes  its  origin.  With  no  other  resource  than  her  courage  and  her 
confidence  in  God,  she  undertook  the  establishment  of  a  convent  at 
Montreal,  to  secure  to  all  female  children,  however  poor  and  destitute, 
a  useful  and  respectable  education.  The  whole  island  of  Montreal,  in 
fact,  resembled  a  religious  community." 

The  puritanic  rigidity  of  life  in  New  England  was  equalled  by  that 
of  catholic  Montreal.  As  a  picture  of  the  manners  of  those  days  in 
that  religious  city,  we  may  give  the  description  of  La  Hontan: — "We 
have  here  a  misanthropical  bigot  of  a  cure,  under  whose  spiritual  des- 
potism play  and  visiting  the  ladies  are  reckoned  among  the  deadly 
sins.  If  you  have  the  misfortune  to  be  on  his  black  list,  he  launches 
at  you  publicly  from  the  pulpit.  In  order  to  keep  well  with  Messieurs 
the  priests  of  St.  Sulpice,  our  temporal  lords,  it  is  necessary  to  com- 
municate once  a  month.  No  one  dare  be  absent  from  great  masses 
and  sermons.  These  Arguses  have  their  eyes  constantly  on  the  con- 
duct of  the  women  and  the  girls.  Fathers  and  husbands  may  sleep 
in  all  assurance,  unless  they  have  suspicion  of  these  vigilant  sentinels 
themselves.  Of  all  the  vexation  of  these  disturbers,  I  find  none  so 
intolerable  as  their  war  upon  books.  None  are  to  be  found  here  but 
books  of  devotion.  All  others  are  prohibited  and  condemned  to  the 
flames." 

While  civilisation  was  labouring  to  establish  itself  in  the  north,  the 
adventurous  Jesuits  had  penetrated  to  the  far  west.  In  1656,  two 
young  fur-traders  returned  to  St.  Louis,  after  a  two  years'  travel  of 
500  leagues,  bringing  back  with  them  a  great  number  of  Ottawas. 
They  related  wonderful  and  exciting  histories  of  vast  lakes  in  the 


(1660.)  MISSIONARY  LABOURS — RENE   MESNABD.  303 

west,  and  numerous  tribes  of  Indians,  as  yet  unknown  to  the  white 
man.    New  fields  were  opened  for  commerce  and  missionary  labours. 

Gabriel  Dreuillettes,  formerly  missionary  in  Maine,  and  Louis 
Gareau,  an  old  Huron  missionary,  were  deputed  to  this  service,  and 
accompanied  by  the  Ottawas,  returned  with  them  in  their  canoes. 
But  the  Mohawks,  enemies  of  the  Ottawas,  attacked  the  little  fleet 
and  Gareau  was  killed.  In  1660,  two  other  fur-traders,  who  had 
passed  the  winter  on  the  banks  of  Lake  Superior,  returned  to  Quebec, 
again  escorted  by  a  great  number  of  canoes  rowed  by  Algon  quins  and 
laden  with  peltry.  The  Mohawks  and  their  confederate  nations  had 
carried  on  a  war  of  extermination  against  the  Eries,  and  were  now 
advancing  against  other  nations  lying  more  to  the  south  and  west. 
The  Algon  quins,  therefore,  besought  an  alliance  with  the  French 
against  these  powerful  enemies. 

Again  the  missionary  enthusiasm  was  excited ;  the  very  bishop  of 
Quebec  himself  was  eager  to  undertake  the  enterprise ;  but  the 
decision  being  by  lot,  Rene  Mesnard,  late  missionary  among  the 
Cayugus,  was  chosen.  He  was  already  advanced  in  years,  and 
experienced  in  missionary  service.  "  I  go,"  said  he,  "  trusting  in 
Providence,  who  feeds  the  little  birds  of  the  desert  and  clothes  the 
wild  flowers  of  the  forest."  "  In  three  or  four  months,"  wrote  he  to  a 
friend,  "  you  may  add  me  to  the  memento  of  deaths."  In  the  autumn 
he  reached  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  and  the  following 
year,  being  on  his  way  to  the  Bay  of  Chegoimegon,  on  the  western 
extremity  of  that  great  lake,  he  lost  his  way  in  the  forest  and  never 
more  was  seen ;  Ms  cassock  and  breviary  being  kept  for  long  years 
afterwards  as  amulets  among  the  Sioux. 

Again  the  Mohawks  made  war  on  the  French,  and  Montreal  was 
in  danger;  the  abandonment  of  the  country  was  even  thought  of  and 
might  have  been  carried  out,  but  that  Colbert,  the  minister  of  the 
young  Louis  XIV.,  who  had  just  come  to  the  throne,  estimating  at  its 
true  value  the  commercial  relationship  of  France  with  the  Canadian 
colony,  was  the  means  of  its  being  transferred  to  a  new  West  India 
company,  the  original  company  of  New  France  having  resigned  its 
rights  to  the  sovereign.  Under  this  new  management,  "a  royal 
regiment,  under  the  indefatigable  Tracy  as  viceroy,  was  sent  over  for 
its  defence ;  Courcelles,  a  veteran  soldier,  was  appointed  governor, 


304  HISTOEY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  Talon,  a  man  of  business  and  integrity,  as  royal  representative  in 
civil  affairs.  Every  omen  was  favourable,  save  the  conquest  of  New 
Netherlands  by  the  English,  which  took  place  at  this  time,  and  which 
circumstance,  in  a  quarter  of  a  century,  made  the  hunting-fields  of 
the  Iroquois  the  battle-grounds  of  these  two  European  rivals." 

Under  the  better  prospects  which  the  change  of  administration 
introduced  into  New  France,  Father  Allouez,  nothing1  daunted  by  the 
cruel  fate  of  Gareau  and  Mesnard,  set  out  on  a  mission  to  the  remote 
west.  His  journey  commenced  in  August,  1665,  and  early  in  Sep- 
tember he  entered  the  great  lake,  reverenced  by  the  Indians  as  a 
divinity,  "  and  sailing  along  the  lofty  banks  and  pictured  rocks  of  its 
sou  them -shore,  passed  beyond  the  Bay  of  Keweena,  obtaining  know- 
ledge of  those  copper  mines  known  immemorially  to  the  Indians,  and 
for  which  that  region  is  now  celebrated,  and  so  arrived  at  Chegoi- 
megon,  where  landing,  he  celebrated  mass  and  inscribing  the  cross 
on  a  lofty  tree  of  the  forest,  claimed  the  country  for  the  Christian 
king  of  France." 

The  great  village  of  foe  Chippewas  was  situated  on  Chegoimegon 
Bay,  and  at  the  moment  of  Allouez'  arrival  a  grand  council  of  ten  or 
twelve  nations  had  assembled  there  to  prevent  war  between  the 
Chippewas  and  the  Sioux,  Into  this  assembly  advanced  the  fearless 
missionary,  and  in  the  names  of  Christ  and  of  tne  monarch  of  France 
commanded  peace;  offering  to  them  the  advantage  of  commerce, 
and  protection  from  the  French  against  their  common  enemy  the 
Iroquois. 

These  Indians  who  had  never  before  seen  a  white  man,  listened  to 
him  with  reverence.  A  chapel  soon  sprung  up  there,  and  the  services 
were  chanted  in  a  new  tongue.  At  this  mission  of  St.  Esprit,  more 
than  twenty  different  nations  listened  to  the  teacher.  Hither  came 
scattered  remnants  of  the  Hurons  and  Ottawas ;  hither  came  the 
Potawatamies,  worshippers  of  the  sun,  who  invited  Allouez  to  their 
homes  still  further  westward ;  hither  came  the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  hunters 
of  the  deer,  the  beaver  and  the  buffalo;  hither  came  the  Illinois  and 
the  impassive  Sioux,  whose  food  was  wild  rice,  and  who  used  skins 
of  beasts  instead  of  bark  to  roof  their  cabins,  and  who  excited  the 
missionary's  curiosity  by  the  accounts  they  gave  of  the  mighty  Mesipi, 
on  which  they  dwelt,  and  which  flowed  to  the  south ;  forests  they  had 


(1667.)  ALLOUEZ   AMONG  THE   INDIANS.  305 

not,  but  vast  prairies  where  herds  of  deer  and  buffalo  grazed  on  the 
tall  grasses.  "  They  told  him  of  their  mysterious  peace-pipe,  and  of 
the  welcome  which  they  gave  to  strangers;"  and  Allouez,  as  he 
listened,  exclaimed,  "  Their  country  is  the  best  field  for  the  gospel." 

After  a  residence  here  of  two  years,  Allouez  returned  to  Quebec, 
and  there  exciting  an  enthusiasm  equal  to  his  own,  he,  already  on  the 
third  day  after  his  return,  in  company  with  Louis  Nicolas,  another 
missionary,  was  on  Ms  way  back  to  Chegoiniegon. 


306  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTEEXXIII. 

NEW    FEANCE    (continued).     DISCO YERY   OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI. 

THE  zeal  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  received  a  fresh  stimulant,  not 
only  from  the  opening  of  this  new  field  of  labour,  but  from  the 
introduction  by  Talon  of  a  number  of  Franciscan  friars,  who  thus 
broke  up  the  Jesuit  monopoly,  and  gave  rise  to  a  spirit  of  rival  piety. 
No  time  was  lost  in  occupying  the  ground  made  known  by  Allouez. 
Claude  Dablon  and  James  Marquette  soon  followed  him,  and  the 
mission  of  St.  Mary's,  on  the  falls  between  the  Lakes  Superior  and 
Huron,  was  established. 

"  The  peninsula  between  Lake  Superior  and  Green  Bay  was  soon 
explored.  Milwaukie,  Chicago  and  St.  Joseph's  were  visited,  and  mis- 
sions planted  among  the  tribes  on  Lake  Michigan."  For  several  years 
this  indefatigable  triumvirate  of  missionaries  laboured  at  the  work  of 
christianising  the  Indian  and  exploring  the  country.  The  design  of 
navigating  "  the  Great  River,"  of  which  they  continued  to  hear 
reports,  originated  with  Marquette  in  1669,  and  the  interval  which 
occurred  between  that  time  and  its  accomplishment  was  employed  by 
him  in  acquiring  some  knowledge  of  the  Illinois  language. 

At  length  Talon,  seconding  Colbert's  views  of  extending  the  empire 
of  France  and  the  sphere  of  Jesuit  missions,  deputed  Marquette  to 
the  welcome  business  of  exploration.  Before  he  set  out.  however,  he 
had  collected  the  scattered  remains  of  one  branch  of  the  Hurons  at 
the  Point  of  St.  Ignatius,  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  peninsula  of 
Michigan,  where  a  chapel  was  built  and  a  mission  established.  This 
settlement  was  long  maintained  "  as  a  key  to  the  west,  and  a  con- 
venient rendezvous  of  the  remote  Algonquins,  to  whom  the  French 


(1673.)  EXPEDITION  TO   THE   MISSISSIPPI.  307 

gave  protection ;  and  Marquette  thus  gained  a  place  also  as  one  of 
the  founders  of  Michigan."* 

While  Marquette  was  thus  occupied,  Allouez  and  Dablon  explored 
Eastern  Wisconsin  and  the  north  of  Illinois,  preaching  the  religion  of 
the  cross  among  the  Mascoutins,  Kickapoos  and  Miamis.  Allouez 
alone  extended  his  pilgrimage  among  the  trihes  of  the  Fox  Indians 
who  inhabit  the  region  around  the  river  of  that  name. 

The  Potawatomies,  among  whom  Marquette  dwelt,  heard  with 
amaze  of  his  intended  exploration  of  the  "  Great  River,"  or  the 
"  Father  of  Rivers,"  as  it  was  also  poetically  called,  and  used  their 
utmost  efforts  to  discourage  him.  "  Those  distant  nations,"  they 
told  him,  "  never  spared  the  stranger ;  their  mutual  wars  filled  their 
borders  with  bands  of  warriors ;  besides  which  the  Great  River 
abounded  in  monsters,  which  devoured  both  men  and  canoes ;  while 
the  excessive  heats  caused  death."  Marquette  was  not  discouraged; 
"  I  shall  gladly  lay  down  my  life  for  the  salvation  of  souls,"  said  he. 

Marquette,  accompanied  by  Joliet  a  trader  of  Quebec,  five  other 
Frenchmen  and  two  Algonquin  guides,  paddled  up  Green  Bay  in 
birch-bark  canoes :  then  asending  Fox  River  crossed  the  portage  to  the 
Wisconsin,  where  in  a  beautiful  region  dwelt  the  friendly  Kickapoos, 
Mascoutins  and  Miamis,  to  whom  Allouez  had  preached  with  success. 
A  council  of  the  old  men  was  called  to  receive  the  strangers ;  and  the 
two  guides  left  them,  from  fear  of  the  Sioux  and  the  fabulous  terrors' 
of  the  region  into  which  they  were  venturing. 

And  now,  on  the  tenth  of  June,  1673,  Marquette,  Joliet  and  their 
French  companions,  being,  as  Marquette  himself  says,  "  left  alone,  in 
this  unknown  land,  in  the  hands  of  Providence,"  embarked  on  the 
Wisconsin,  and  sailed  "  between  alternate  prairies  and  hill-sides,  with- 
out seeing  a  single  Indian ;  and  for  the  first  time  beholding  herds  of 
buffalo,  the  lowings  of  which  and  the  splash  of  their  oars,  were  the 
only  sounds  which  broke  the  silence  of  the  primeval  wilderness. 
Thus  proceeded  they  for  seven  days,  when  they  happily  entered  the 
Great  River,  with  a  joy  that  cannot  be  expressed."  So  far  the  object 
of  their  mission  was  accomplished.  And  now  the  two  birch-bark 
canoes,  raising  their  sails,  floated  down  the  magnificent  river  uncon- 
scious into  what  regions  it  would  lead  them. 
*  Bancroft, 


308  HISTOKY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

But  we  will  take  the  eloquent  and  picturesque  Bancroft  as  our 
guide — we  cannot  take  a  better: — "They  floated  down  the  calm 
magnificence  of  the  ocean-stream,  over  the  broad  clear  sand-bars — the 
resort  of  innumerable  water-fowl — gliding  past  islets  that  swelled 
from  the  bosom  of  the  streams,  with  their  tufts  of  massive  thickets, 
and  between  the  wide  plains  of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  garlanded  with 
majestic  forests,  or  chequered  by  island  groves  and  the  open  vastness 
of  the  prairie. 

"About  sixty  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  they  per- 
ceived on  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi  the  trail  of  men ;  and, 
leaving  the  canoes,  -Joliet  and  Marquette  resolved  alone  to  brave  a 
meeting  with  the  savages.  After  walking  about  six  miles  over 
beautiful  prairie,  they  beheld  one  village  on  the  banks  of  a  river  and 
two  others  on  a  distant  slope.  This  river  was  the  Moingona,  now 
corrupted  into  Des  Moines.  Marquette  and  Joliet  were  the  first 
white  men  who  trod  the  soil  of  Iowa.  Commending  themselves  to 
God,  they  raised  a  shout,  on  which  four  old  men  advanced  slowly  to 
meet  them,  bearing  the  peace-pipe,  brilliant  with  many-coloured 
plumes.  'We  are  Illinois,'  said  they — that  is,  when  translated, 
'  We  are  men ! ' — and  they  offered  the  calumet.  An  aged  chief  received 
the  strangers  with  great  joy  at  his  cabin,  and  the  whole  village 
gazed  on  them  with  friendly  astonishment. 

"  At  a  great  council  Marquette  published  to  them  the  One  true 
God,  their  Creator.  He  spoke,  also,  of  the  great  captain  of  the 
French,  the  governor  of  Canada,  who  had  chastised  the  Five  Nations, 
and  commanded  peace  ;  and  he  questioned  them  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  tribes  which  possessed  its  banks.  A  magnificent  feast  of  hominy, 
fish  and  the  choicest  viands  from  the  prairies,  was  prepared  for  the 
messengers,  who  announced  the  subjection  of  the  hated  Iroquois. 

"  After  a  delay  of  six  days,  the  chieftain  of  the  tribe  and  hundreds 
of  warriors  attended  the  strangers  to  their  canoes.  A  peace-pipe, 
embellished  with  brilliant  feathers— the  mysterious  arbiter  of  peace 
and  war,  the  safeguard  among  the  nations — was  hung  around 
Marquette  as  a  parting  gift. 

"The  little  group  proceeded  down  the  river..  They  passed  the 
perpendicular  rocks  which  wore  the  appearance  of  monsters ;  they 
heard  at  a  distance  the  noise  of  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi,  known 


(1673.)  VOYAGE    UP   THE    MISSISSIPPI.  309 

to  them  by  its  Algonquin  name  of  Pekitanoni ;  and  when  they  came 
to  the  most  beautiful  confluence  of  rivers  in  the  world,  where  the 
swifter  Missouri  rushes  like  a  conqueror  into  the  calmer  Mississippi, 
dragging  it,  as  it  were,  hastily  to  the  sea,  the  good  Marquette 
resolved  in  his  heart  one  day  to  ascend  the  mighty  river  to  its  source, 
and  then,  descending  a  westerly  flowing  stream,  to  publish  the  gospel 
to  all  the  people  of  this  New  World. 

"  In  a- little  less  than  forty  leagues,  the  canoes  floated  past  the  con- 
fluence of  the  Ohio,  then  called  the  Wabash.  Its  banks  were  tenanted 
by  the  peaceful  Shawanees,  who  had  quailed  under  the  incursions  of 
the  Iroquois. 

"  The  thick  canes  now  began  to  appear  so  close  and  strong  that 
the  buffalo  could  not  break  through  them ;  the  insects  became  intoler- 
able, and  as  a  shelter  against  the  sun  of  July,  the  sails  were  folded 
into  an  awning.  They  had  now  left  the  region  of  prairies,  and 
forests  of  whitewood,  admirable  for  their  vastness  and  height,  crowded 
even  the  skirts  of  the  pebbly  shore.  It  was  also  observed,  that  in  the 
land  of  the  Arkansas  the  Indians  had  guns. 

"  Near  the  latitude  of  thirty- three  degrees,  on  the  western  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  stood  the  village  of  Mitchigamea,  in  a  region  which 
had  not  been  visited  by  Europeans  since  the  days  of  De  Soto.  '  Now,' 
thought  Marquette,  'we  must  indeed  ask  the  aid  of  the  Virgin.' 
Armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  with  clubs,  .axes  and  bucklers,  amid 
continual  whoops,  the  natives,  bent  on  war,  came  to  meet  them  in 
vast  canoes  made  out  of  hollow  trees ;  but  at  sight  of  the  mysterious 
peace-pipe  held  aloft,  God  touched  the  hearts  of  the  old  men,  who 
checked  the  impetuosity  of  the  young,  and  throwing  their  bows  and 
quivers  into  the  canoes,  as  a  token  of  peace,  prepared  a  hospitable 
welcome. 

"  The  next  day,  a  long  wooden  canoe,  containing  ten  men,  escorted 
the  discoverers  for  eight  or  ten  leagues,  to  the  village  of  Arkansea, 
the  limit  of  their  voyage.  They  had  left  the  region  of  the  Algpnquins, 
and  could  now  only  speak  by  an  interpreter.  Half  a  league  above 
Arkansea,  they  were  met  by  two  boats,  in  one  of  which  stood  the 
commander,  holding  in  his  hand  the  peace-pipe  and  singing  as  he 
drew  near.  After  offering  the  pipe,  he  gave  bread  of  maize.  The 


310  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

wealth,  of  his  tribe  consisted  in  buffalo  skins ;  their  weapons  were 
axes  of  steel,  a  proof  of  commerce  with  Europeans. 

"  Thus  had  our  travellers  descended  below  the  entrance  of  the 
Arkansas  to  the  genial  climes  which  have  scarcely  any  winter  but 
rains  ;  and  so,  having  spoken  of  God,  and  the  mysteries  of  the  Catholic 
faith  ;  having  become  certain  that  the  Father  of  Rivers  went  not  to 
the  ocean  east  of  Florida,  nor  yet  to  the  Gulf  of  California,  Marquette 
and  Joliet  left  Arkansea,  and  ascended  the  Mississippi. 

"  At  the  thirty-eighth  degree  of  latitude  they  entered  the  river 
Illinois,  and  discovered  a  country  without  its  parallel  for  the  fertility 
of  its  beautiful  prairies,  covered  with  buffaloes  and  stags — for  the 
loveliness  of  its  rivulets  and  the  prodigal  abundance  of  wild  ducks 
and  swans,  and  of  parrots  and  wild  turkeys.  The  tribe  of  Illinois 
that  tenanted  its  banks  entreated  Marquette  to  come  and  reside 
among  them.  One  of  their  chiefs,  with  their  young  men,  conducted 
the  party,  by  way  of  Chicago,  to  Lake  Michigan,  and  before  the  end 
of  September  all  were  safe  in  Green  Bay. 

"  Joliet  returned  to  Quebec  to  announce  the  discoveiy,  of  which  the 
fame,  through  Talon,  quickened  the  ambition  of  Colbert.  The 
unaspiring  Marquette  remained  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  Miainis, 
who  dwelt  in  the  north  of  Illinois,  round  Chicago.  Two  years  after- 
wards, sailing  from  Chicago  to  Mackinaw,  he  entered  a  little  river  in 
Michigan.  Erecting  an  altar,  he  said  mass  according  to  the  rites  of 
the  Catholic  church,  after  which  he  begged  the  men  who  conducted 
his  canoe  to  leave  him  alone  for  half-an-hour.  At  the  end  of  that 
time  they  went  to  seek  him,  but  he  was  no  more.  The  good  mission- 
ary had  fallen  asleep  on  the  margin  of  the  stream  that  bears  his 
name.  Near  its  mouth,  the  canoe-men  dug  his  grave  in  the  sand. 
Ever  after,  the  forest  rangers,  if  in  danger  on  Lake  Michigan, 
would  invoke  his  name.  The  people  of  the  West  will  build  his 
monument." 

A  modern  traveller  *  remarks,  with  great  truth  and  beauty,  of  the 
Mississippi,  that  the  history  of  its  discovery  has  two  epochs,  and  each 
a  romance,  the  one  as  different  to  the  other  as  day  and  night— the 

«  Miss  Bremer. 


(1675.)  JOLIET   AND    EOBEET    CAVALIER    LA    SALLE.  311 

one  a  sun-bright  idyll,  the  other  a  gloomy  tragedy.  The  first  belongs 
to  the  northern  district,  the  second  to  the  southern ;  the  former  has 
for  its  hero  the  mild  pastor,  Father  Marquette,  the  other  the  Spanish 
soldier,  Ferdinand  de  Soto. 

Joliet,  returning  from  the  West,  stopped  at  Frontenac,  now  Kings- 
ton, an  outpost  on  Lake  Ontario,  of  which  the  young  Robert  Cavalier 
la  Salle  was  governor.  La  Salle,  himself  of  a  bold  and  adventurous 
turn  of  mind,  had  occupied  his  solitary  leisure  in  reading  the  voyages 
of  Columbus  and  the  adventures  of  De  Soto,  and  a  traveller  such  as 
Joliet  would  not  fail  of  being  welcome.  Of  a  good  family  in  France, 
and  educated  a  Jesuit,  though  he  had  afterwards  been  absolved  from  his 
vows,  he  had  come  over  to  Canada  in  the  year  1667,  and  enjoying  the 
favour  of  Talon  and  Courcelles,  had  explored  Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie. 
In  1675 — when,  on  the  dissolution  of  the  West  India  Company,  New 
France  had  reverted  to  the  crown,  La  Salle  hastened  to  his  native  land 
and  obtained  from  the  monarch  the  grant  of  Fort  Frontenac,  on  con- 
dition of  maintaining  the  fortress.  This  grant  gave  him  in  fact  the 
exclusive  traffic  with  the  Five  Nations.  La  Salle's  settlement  here 
occurred  about  the  time  of  the  war  with  King  Philip  in  New  England 
and  Bacon's  rebellion  in  Virginia. 

From  Joliet,  who  was  well  entertained  at  Frontenac,  La  Salle 
heard  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  at  once  conceiving 
vast  plans  for  the  colonisation  of  the  south-west,  he  again  hastened  to 
France  and  obtained  a  royal  commission  for  the  perfecting  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Mississippi,  together  with  the  monopoly  of  the  trade  in 
buffalo  hides.  The  purpose  of  this  visit  accomplished,  La  Salle  lost 
no  time  in  returning  to  America,  provided  with  men  and  abundant 
stores,  and  accompanied  by  Chevalier  Tonti,  an  Italian  soldier,  as 
his  lieutenant.  It  was  autumn  when  he  returned  ;  and  before  winter, 
he  had  built  a  wooden  canoe  often  tons,  the  first  that  ever  sailed  into 
Niagara  River,  and  thus  conveyed  part  of  his  company  to  Tonawanta 
Creek,  not  far  from  the  falls  at  the  foot  of  Lake  Erie,  a  spot  which 
he  had  selected  for  the  purpose,  and  here  he  commenced  building  a 
sailing-vessel  of  sixty  tons  burden,  which  he  called  "  The  Griffin." 
While  the  ship  was  building,  a  trading  house  was  established  at 
Niagara,  where  La  Salle  collected  furs  from  the  Indian  traders ;  and 
Tonti  and  the  Franciscan  Father  Hennepin,  who  was  attached  to  the 


312  HISTORY   OF  THE    UNITED   STATES. 

enterprise,    ventured  among  the  Seneeas,  with  whom  they  formed 
amicable  relationships. 

On  August  7th,  1679,  amid  a  salvo  of  cannon,  the  chanting  of  the 
Te  Deum,  and  the  astonishment  of  the  assembled  Indians,  "  The 
Griffin "  was  launched,  the  first  civilised  vessel  that  ever  ploughed 
the  waters  of  Lake  Erie.  She  bore  La  Salle,  Tonti,  and  Hennepin, 
besides  sailors,  boatmen,  hunters  and  soldiers,  amounting  in  all  to 
sixty  persons. 

Leaving  Lake  Erie,  they  entered  the  strait  "  Detroit,"  at  the  head 
of  the  lake,  and  passing  through  a  little  lake  which  they  called  St. 
Clair,  entered  Lake  Huron  by  a  second  strait,  and  navigating  that 
inland  sea,  reached  Lake  Michigan  by  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw, 
where  La  Salle  planted  a  colony,  and  thence,  after  a  voyage  of  twenty 
days,  to  Green  Bay,  thus  being  the  first  to  traverse  that  which  is  now 
a  great  highway  of  commerce.  From  this  point,  after  despatching 
his  vessel  back  to  Niagara,  with  a  valuable  cargo  of  furs,  ordering 
her  to  return  immediately  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  with  pro- 
visions and  supplies,  he  and  his  company  repaired  in  birch-bark 
canoes  to  the  appointed  place  of  rendezvous,  stopping  by  the  way 
at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  then  called  the  Miami,  where  Allouez 
had  already  established  a  Jesuit  mission,  and  here  they  built  a  fort 
called  the  Post  of  the  Miamis. 

Of  the  Griffin  came  no  tidings ;  and  weary  of  waiting,  La  Salle 
resolved  to  employ  himself  in  exploring  the  Illinois.  Ten  men  were  left 
to  guard  the  fort,  and  La  Salle,  Hennepin,  and  the  rest,  it  now  being 
the  depth  of  winter,  penetrated  to  the  banks  of  Lake  Peoria,  where 
was  an  Indian  village.  Four  days'  journey  below  Lake  Peoria,  they 
built  a  second  fort,  which,  as  expressive  of  their  disappointment  in 
receiving  no  tidings  of  the  Griffin,  and  the  general  depression,  was 
called  Crevecceur. 

The  circumstances  of  La  Salle  were  such  as  either  to  sink  the 
spirit  into  despair,  or  to  call  forth  untried  energy  and  courage, 
according  to  the  character  of  the  soul ;  La  Salle's  was  of  the  heroic  class. 
He  resolved  therefore,  now  that  no  tidings  could  be  expected  of  the 
Griffin,  which  in  fact  had  perished  with  all  its  valuable  cargo  of  furs,  to 
proceed  himself  alone,  to  hasten  or  obtain  the  necessary  supplies,  to 
Fort  Frontenac ;  having  first  however,  despatched  Hennepin  to  explore 


(1682.)      HENXEPIN'S  TKAVELS — TOXTI  AND  HIS  DISASTERS.  313 

the  Upper  Mississippi,  in  a  canoe  which  his  courage  and  example  had 
inspired  his  men  to  build. 

In  the  month  of  March,  with  his  gun  and  powder  and  shot,  a 
blanket,  and  two  skins  to  cut  into  moccassins,  La  Salle,  with  only 
three  attendants,  set  off  on  foot,  Tonti  remaining  at  the  Illinois  fort 
with  the  main  body. 

When  La  Salle,  after  an  arduous  journey,  in  which  he  encountered 
untold  hardships,  arrived  at  Fort  Frontenac,  he  found  that  owing  to  a 
report  of  his  death,  his  creditors  had  seized  his  property,  which  how- 
ever was  restored  to  him  by  help  of  the  governor,  and  he  was  enabled 
to  pursue  his  enterprise. 

During  his  absence  Hennepin,  bearing  the  calumet  or  pipe  of  peace, 
and  with  two  companions,  followed  the  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi, 
ascending  which  he  advanced  as  far  as  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
which  he  thus  named  in  honour  of  his  patron  saint.  He  spent  the 
summer  in  excursions  through  the  surrounding  country,  and  after  a 
short  captivity  among  the  Sioux,  returned  by  the  Wisconsin  and  Fox 
rivers  to  Green  Bay,  whence  proceeding  to  Quebec,  he  went  to  France, 
and,  in  1682,  published  an  account  of  his  travels,  stating  incorrectly 
that  he  had  discovered  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi. 

Tonti,  in  the  meantime,  who  was  left  at  Rock  Fort  or  the  Post  of 
the  Miamis,  near  the  Illinois  village,  encountered  many  disasters. 
The  men  left  at  Crevecceur  deserted,  and  the  Iroquois,  enemies  alike 
of  the  Illinois  and  La  Salle,  descended  the  river,  and  compelled  Tonti 
and  the  few  who  remained  with  him,  with  the  exception  of  an  aged 
Franciscan,  Gabriel  de  la  Bibourd,  to  flee  to  Lake  Michigan,  where 
they  were  kindly  received  by  the  Potawatomies.  La  Salle,  on  his 
return  therefore  the  following  year,  with  men  and  stores,  and  rig- 
ging for  a  new  vessel,  had  the  mortification  and  grief  of  finding 
the  two  forts  abandoned.  Distressed  but  not  disheartened,  the  brave 
adventurer  set  about  to  retrieve  his  fortunes;  and  having  built 
another  fort  on  the  Illinois,  which  he  called  St.  Louis,  set  out  to  find 
Tonti  and  his  men,  in  which  having  succeeded,  they  all  returned 
to  the  Illinois.  The  following  winter  was  actively  employed  in 
building  a  second  vessel,  in  which,  early  in  the  following  year,  1682, 
he  descended  the  Illinois,  and  entering  upon  the  waters  of  "  the 

VOL.  i.  14 


314  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Father  of  Rivers,"  was  once  more  on  the  career  of  successful  achieve- 
ment. The  voyage  was  happy  and  prosperous,  interrupted  only  to 
plant  a  cabin  on  the  first  Chick  asa  bluff,  to  raise  the  cross  by  the 
Arkansas,  or  to  plant  the  arms  of  France  near  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
The  country  was  formally  claimed  for  the  French  monarch,  and  in 
honour  of  him  called  Louisiana. 

"  The  following  year  La  Salle  returned  for  the  third  time  to  France, 
the  tidings  of  his  achievement,  which  had  preceded  him,  having 
awakened  the  utmost  enthusiasm.  Colbert  was  now  dead,  but  his 
son  Seignelay,  minister  for  maritime  affairs,  attached  no  less  impor- 
tance than  his  father  had  done  to  the  French  affairs  in  the  New 
World."  Four  vessels  were,  therefore,  prepared  for  the  colonisation 
of  the  lands  bordering  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  on  board  of 
which  ware  280  persons,  of  whom  100  were  soldiers;  with  about 
thirty  volunteer  gentlemen,  two  of  whom,  "  the  young  Cavalier,  and 
the  rash  passionate  Maranget,"  were  nephews  of  La  Salle ;  there 
were  also  various  mechanics  and  some  young  women,  so--  confident 
were  the  hopes  of  permanent  colonisation. 

Disasters  and  ill  omens  commenced  early  on  the  voyage ;  and 
Beaujeu,  the  naval  commander,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of 
dogged  obstinacy,  continually  thwarted  and  annoyed  La  Salle.  On 
the  10th  of  January,  1685,  they  were  near  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, where  Tonti,  already  aware  of  the  enterprise,  having  descended 
the  river  from  fort  St.  Louis  with  twenty  Canadians  and  thirty 
Indians,  was  awaiting  his  old  commander.  La  Salle  however,  unfor- 
tunately not  recognising  the  land  marks,  or  losing  his  reckoning, 
sailed  past  it,  and  perceiving  his  error,  would  have  returned ;  but 
again  he  was  opposed  by  Beaujeu,  who  persisted  on  still  sailing 
westward,  and  by  this  means  they  reached  the  Bay  of  Matagorda. 
Hoping  that  all  might  yet  be  well,  La  Salle  yielded  to  the  self-will 
of  Beaujeu,  and  entered  the  bay,  trusting  that  the  streams  which 
emptied  themselves  into  it  were  branches  of  the  Mississippi.  Here, 
on  the  shore  of  Texas,  the  ill-fated  company  disembarked,  the  store- 
ship  being  unfortunately  wrecked  in  entering  the  harbour.  The 
people  at  once  lost  hope ;  La  Salle  alone  was  calm  and  energetic  ; 
but  Providence  did  not  bless  his  efforts  j  endeavouring  to  save  by 


(1685.)       CRITICAL   POSITION   OF   LA   SALLE  ;    FORT   ST.   LOUIS.  315 

boats  some  of  the  stores  of  the  wrecked  vessel ;  a  storm  arose  and  the 
wreck  went  to  pieces;  nearly  everything  was  lost,  and  the  same 
night  the  Indians  came  down  and  murdered  two  of  the  volunteers. 

Terror  and  despair  prevailed ;  La  Salle  alone  was  calm  and  resolute, 
and  by  the  force  of  his  character,  and  the  inspiration  of  his  example, 
sufficient  energy  remained  to  construct  a  fort  on  the  shore  of  the 
remains  of  the  wreck,  where  about  230  persons  remained,  while  La 
Salle,  with  sixteen  companions,  ascended  a  stream  on  the  west  of  the 
bay,  in  the  hope  of  reaching  the  Mississippi.  But  no  Mississippi  was 
to  be  found.  An  elevated  situation  above  the  Bay  of  Matagorda  was 
selected  by  La  Salle  for  the  erection  of  a  fortified  post,  which  was 
called  St.  Louis.  This  settlement  it  was  which  gave  to  France  a 
claim  upon  Texas,  of  which  possession  was  taken,  as  a  portion  of 
Louisiana,  in  the  name  of  the  French. 

About  six  months  were  spent  in  constructing  this  fort,  which  was 
built  from  timber  felled  in  the  neighbouring  groves,  and  with  frag- 
ments of  the  wreck  brought  up  in  canoes,  together  with  a  good  supply 
of  arms.  After  all,  the  little  colony  was  not  ill-supplied,  if  they  had 
been  possessed  of  courage  and  perseverance.  Whilst  these  necessary 
works  were  going  forward,  La  Salle  carefully  explored  the  neigh- 
bouring country  for  "  the  fatal  river ;  "  on  one  occasion  being  absent 
four  months  and  returning  in  rags.  But  his  presence  always  renewed 
hope.  In  April  of  the  next  year  he  set  out  again  with  twenty  com- 
panions, and  wandered  into  New  Mexico.  On  his  return,  he  found 
the  last  of  the  vessels  left  with  the  colonists  wrecked,  and  themselves 
reduced  to  about  six-and-thirty,  grown  desperate  and  cruel  by  despair. 
He  now  determined,  seeing  that  no  succour  was  likely  to  reach  them 
from  France,  to  proceed  to  Canada  on  foot,  and  with  sixteen  compa- 
nions set  out  on  this  terrible  undertaking,  their  baggage  laden  on  the 
wild  horses  of  the  prairies,  and  with  moccassins  made  of  green  buf- 
falo hides.  The  journey  was  full  of  unprecedented  hardships.  We 
will  give  the  concluding  scene  of  the  tragedy  in  the  words  of  our 
able  historian  Bancroft. 

"  In  the  little  company  of  wanderers  were  two  men,  Duhaut  and 
1'Archeveque,  who  had  embarked  their  capital  in  the  enterprise ;  of 
these  Duhaut  had  long  shown  a  spirit  of  mutiny.  Inviting  Maranget 
to  take  charge  of  the  fruits  of  a  buffalo  hunt,  they  quarrelled  with 


516  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

and  murdered  him.  Wondering  at  the  delay  of  his  nephew's  return, 
La  Salle  went  in  search  of  him.  At  the  brink  of  a  river  he  observed 
eagles  hovering  as  if  over  carrion,  and  fired  an  alarm  gun.  Warned 
by  the  sound,  Duhaut  and  1'Archeveque  crossed  the  river ;  the  for- 
mer skulked  in  the  prairie-grass;  La  Salle  asked  of  the  latter, 
'  Where  is  my  nephew  ? '  At  the  moment  of  the  answer  Duhaut 
fired  and  La  Salle  fell  dead  without  a  word.  '  You  are  down  now, 
proud  bashaw !  you  are  down  now ! '  shouted  one  of  the  conspirators, 
as  they  despoiled  the  body,  which  was  left  on  the  prairie,  naked  and 
without  burial,  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts. 

"  Such  was  the  end  of  this  daring  adventurer.  For  force  of  will 
and  vast  conceptions,  for  various  knowledge  and  quick  adaptation  of 
his  genius  to  untried  circumstances,  for  a  sublime  magnanimity,  that 
resigned  itself  to  the  will  of  Heaven  and  yet  triumphed  over  affliction 
by  energy  of  purpose  and  unfaltering  hope — he  had  no  superior 
among  his  countrymen. 

"  After  beginning  the  colonisation  of  Upper  Canada,  he  perfected 
the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony  to  its 
mouth ;  and  he  will  be  remembered  through  all  time  as  the  father  of 
colonisation  in  the  great  central  valley  of  the  West." 

As  regarded  the  companions  of  La  Salle,  some  joined  the  Indians, 
and  the  murderers  were  themselves  murdered.  Seven  alone,  among 
whom  were  the  other  nephew  of  La  Salle,  and  Joutel,  the  historian 
of  the  expedition,  having  obtained  an  Indian  guide,  finally  reached 
Arkansea,  on  the  Mississippi,  where  to  their  inexpressible  joy  they 
beheld  a  large  cross  on  an  island.  Here  it  w  as  th at  Tonti  had  awaited 
their  arrival ;  having  returned,  after  long  and  vain  tarriance,  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  Before  leaving  his  station  at  this  latter  point, 
he  entrusted  a  letter  for  La  Salie  to  the  nearest  Indians,  "  who  faith- 
fully kept  it  for  fourteen  years,  and  then  delivered  it  to  the  first 
Frenchmen  who  made  their  appearance." 

While  La  Salle  was  thus  employed  in  exploring  the  West,  difficul- 
ties had  sprung  up  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  New  France. 
Frontenac,  the  governor-general,  having  disagreed  with  the  Jesuits, 
had  even  imprisoned  the  afterwards  celebrated  Abbe  Fenelon,  who 
was  for  two  years  a  missionary  in  Canada,  for  having  preached 
against  him.  Talon  had  been  removed  from  office,  and  M.  du  Ches- 


(1685.)  THE    IROQT70IS   AND   THEIR   HOSTILITIES.  317 

neau  appointed  intendant  in  his  place,  but  only  for  a  short  time,  as 
both  he  and  Frontenac  were  recalled,  and  De  la  Barre  and  Meules 
succeeded  them. 

De  la  Barre  found  the  Iroquois  again  in  a  restless  state,  and  war 
evidently  at  hand,  .to  aid  in  which,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  colony, 
three  companies  of  marines  were  sent  over  from  France.  The  terrible 
Iroquois,  during  the  interval  of  peace  with  the  French,  had  occupied 
themselves  in  carrying  on  wars  of  extermination  against  all  the  tribes 
who  had  the  misfortune  to  be  settled  on  their  borders ;  they  had 
driven  the  tribes  of  the  Lower  Susquehanna  upon  the  settlements  of 
Maryland,  as  we  have  seen ;  and  began  "  to  come  in  contact  with  the 
back  settlers  of  Virginia.  The  tribes  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
the  Upper  Ohio  were  exterminated  or  driven  away.  The  Shawanees, 
whom  Marquette  had  heard  of  as  inhabiting  the  banks  of  the  Lower 
Ohio,  fled  eastward  before  these  formidable  warriors,  and  crossed  the 
mountains  into  Carolina.  The  conquest  of  the  Five  Nations,  to  which 
we  shall  presently  find  the  English  laying  claim,  embraced  both  banks 
of  the  Ohio,  and  reached  to  the  Mississippi."* 

Dongan,  the  governor  of  New  York,  jealous  of  the  French  disco- 
veries in  the  West,  furnished  the  Iroquois  with  fire-arms  and  fomented 
the  growing  ill-will  between  them  and  the  French. 

De  la  Barre  made  an  unsuccessful  expedition  against  the  Iroquois, 
and  soon  after  was  superseded  in  his  office  by  the  Marquis  de  Denon- 
ville,  who  brought  over  500  or  600  regular  troops,  whilst  M.  de 
Champigny,  who  also  brought  additional  companies  of  marines,  was 
appointed  intendant  in  the  place  of  Meules. 

Denonville  determined  to  conquer  the  Senecas,  the  most  hostile  of 
the  Five  Nations,  and  "  card  money,"  as  it  was  called,  the  first  paper 
money  of  America,  made  payable  in  France,  was  issued  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  the  war.  A  number  of  chiefs,  decoyed  into  Fort  Fron- 
tenac, were  treacherously  taken  prisoners  and  shipped  to  France  to 
work  in  the  galleys.  The  Seneca  country  was  ravaged  by  a  force 
of  800  regulars,  1,000  Canadians,  and  300  Indians;  this  roused 
the  whole  body  of  the  Iroquois,  and  the  invasion  of  the  French  ter- 
ritory was  threatened.  After  a  short  interval  of  peace,  tihe  Iroquois 

*Hildreth. 


318  HISTOEY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

came  down  on  the  island  of  Montreal,  which  they  surprised,  killing 
200  persons,  and  taking  the  same  number  prisoners.  Quebec  was 
in  the  utmost  danger.  At  this  disastrous  moment  the  accession  of 
"William  of  Orange  to  the  English  throne  having  involved  England 
and  France  in  war,  new  troubles  threatened  the  French  colonies,  of 
which  we  shall  speak  anon. 

"  Canada,"  says  Hildreth,  "  though  long  planted,  had  not  nourished ; 
the  soil  and  the  climate  were  alike  unfavourable  The  colonial 
government  was  a  military  despotism ;  the  land  was  held  on  feudal 
tenures,  and  the  body  of  the  colonists,  unaccustomed  to  think  or  act 
for  themselves,  had  little  energy  or  activity  of  spirit.  If  the^  mission- 
aries and  fur-traders  were  exceptions,  their  number  was  small,  and 
their  undertakings  remote  and  scattered,  calculated  to  disperse  over  a 
vast  extent  a  scanty  population,  which  amounted  as  yet  to  hardly 
12,000  persons." 

These  missionaries  and  fur-traders  had,  however,  produced  wonder- 
ful results  ;  spite  of  continual  hostility  from  the  terrible  Iroquois,  they 
had  acquainted  themselves  with  the  great  lakes  of  the  West ;  they 
had  established  missionary  posts  along  the  shores  of  the  Huron, 
Superior  and  Michigan  lakes;  they  had  explored  the  Mississippi 
from  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony  to  the  sea ;  and  had  traced  the  Fox 
River,  the  Wisconsin  and  the  Illinois  from  their  sources  to  their 
confluence  with  the  great  river ;  and  tha,  while  the  rivers  Connec- 
ticut, Delaware,  Susquehanna,  Potomac  and  the  James  remained 
unexplored  by  the  British  settlers  on  their  lower  waters. 

The  settlements  in  Acadia  had  never  acquired  much  vigour,  and 
the  total  of  the  French  inhabitants  in  this  portion  of  the  French- 
American  territory  did  not  amount  to  3,000. 


(1694.)   CONTENTIONS  BETWEEN   CHURCHMEN   AND   DISSENTERS.  3]  9 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

THE  COLONIES  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTION  OF  1688. 

WE  must  now  take  a  hasty  glance  at  the  colonies,  which  we  left  at  the 
eve  of  the  Revolution  of  1688,  and  discover  how  this  great  change 
affected  them. 

We  have  seen  the  Grand  Model  constitution  of  Carolina  fall  before 
the  wishes  of  the  people,  and  a  more  practical  and  popular  form  of 
government  take  its  place.  In  1694,  considerable  dissatisfaction 
existed  in  the  colony  owing  to  contentions  between  Dissenters  and 
Churchmen,  who,  though  forming  but  a  small  minority,  yet  demanded 
exclusive  privileges.  It  was  therefore  advised  by  Thomas  Smith,  who 
had  succeeded  Philip  Ludwell  as  governor,  that  in  order  to  give  respec- 
tability to  the  office,  and  to  restore  harmony  between  the  contending 
parties,  one  of  the  proprietaries  himself  should  be  sent  out  as  governor. 
The  young  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  was  elected  to  this  office,buthe  declining 
it,  John  Archdale,  an  honest  Quaker  proprietary,  was  chosen. 

Archdale,  as  might  be  expected,  gave  the  Dissenters  a  majority  in 
the  council,  as  they  formed  a  majority  in  the  colony ;  he  also  appeased 
the  discontent  which  the  system  of  quit-rents  had  caused,  by  remitting 
them  for  three  or  four  years,  and  forgiving  the  arrears  due — a  very 
politic  act,  as  it  would  have  been  next  to  impossible  to  collect  them. 
He  was  a  wise  and  humane  man,  and  not  only  succeeded  in  quieting 
the  discontents  and  disputes  of  the  colonists,  but  established  an 
amicable  relationship  with  the  Indians  by  an  act  of  humanity.  He 
protected  the  natives  round  Cape  Fear  from  kidnappers,  and  they  in 
return  engaged  to  befriend  shipwrecked  mariners  on  their  coast. 
Spite  of  his  peace  principles,  he  yet  raised  a  militia-force  for  the 
defence  of  the  colony,  excusing  however  all  from  being  enrolled  who 


320  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

could  plead  scruples  of  conscience  against  it.  "With  the  Spaniards  of 
St.  Augustine  he  also  established  friendly  relations,  by  ransoming 
four  Indian  Catholic  priests,  prisoners  among  the  Yamasees,  and 
sending  them  back  to  St.  Augustine.  "I  shall  return  your  kindness," 
was  the  reply  of  the  Spaniard ;  and  when  an  English  vessel  soon 
afterwards  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  and  the  crew  taken 
captive  by  Indians,  they  were  ransomed  by  him. 

Archdale  soon  brought  the  affairs  of  Carolina  into  a  flourishing 
condition ;  the  fame  of  her  prosperity  attracted  to  her  soil  industrious 
Scotch  emigrants,  as  well  as  settlers  from  Massachusetts ;  she  was  in 
fact  looked  upon  as  a  sort  of  "American  Canaan  flowing  with  milk 
and  honey." 

Archdale  having  thus,  by  his  wisdom,  patience  and  labour,  laid  a 
firm  foundation  for  a  most  glorious  superstructure,  he  appointed 
Joseph  Bkke,  son  of  that  Joseph  Blake,  brother  of  the  admiral,  who 
twenty  years  before  led  a  colony  of  Dissenters  into  Carolina,  as  his 
successor,  and  returned  to  England.  Scarcely,  however,  was  Archdale 
gone,  than  Blake,  to  satisfy  the  importunate  church  party,  endowed 
the  episcopal  church  at  Charleston  with  a  parsonage  and  annual 
stipend ;  and  though  the  Huguenots,  who  had  suffered  so  long  dis- 
abilities on  account  of  religion  and  country,  were  very  properly 
enfranchised,  yet  were  Catholics  excluded  from  liberty  of  conscience, 
•\jjiich.  was  granted  to  all  other  Christians.  Again  religious,  or 
rather  irreligious,  contentions  raged  violently.  Nathaniel  Moore,  the 
successor  of  Blake,  not  only  established  the  episcopal  form  of  worship, 
but  excluded  all  Dissenters  from  any  share  in  the  government.  The 
Dissenters,  indignant  at  this  arbitrary  and  unjust  exclusion,  appealed 
to  the  British  parliament  in  1706,  and  these  acts  were  declared  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  the  charter.  They  were  repealed  therefore  by 
the  colonial  assembly ;  but  though  the  disabilities  of  the  Dissenters 
were  removed,  the  Church  of  England  remained  the  established 
religion  of  the  province  until  the  American  Revolution. 

Party  spirit  and  strife  had  entered  the  colony,  not  only  as  regarded 
religion,  but  on  the  questions  of  finance  and  quit-rents ;  nevertheless 
the  colony  continued  to  flourish. 

Rice,  of  wrhich  a  bag  had  accidentally  been  brought  to  Charleston 
in  a  vessel  from  Madagascar  at  the  time  of  Archdale's  government, 


(1694.)      UNSETTLED  CONDITION  OF  NOETH  CAROLINA.         321 

and  distributed  among  various  planters,  had  been  cultivated  at  first  ae 
a  matter  of  curiosity,  but  was  now  becoming  a  staple  product  of  the 
colony,  and  a  great  source  of  wealth.  So  important  had  it  become 
indeed,  in  1704,  that  an  act  of  parliament  placed  it  amongst  the 
"  enumerated  articles."  The  cultivation  of  this  grain  led  to  the  large 
importations  of  negroes  which  yearly  took  place  into  Carolina. 

The  fur-traders  of  Carolina  adventured  far  into  the  interior ;  the 
oak  of  the  inland  forest  was  cleft  into  staves  for  the  West  Indies,  and 
the  pine  furnished  masts,  boards  and  joists,  tar  and  turpentine.  These 
naval,  stores  however,  were  rather  the  produce  of  the  hardier  North 
Carolina,  where  but  few  negro  slaves  were  to  he  found,  and  the 
inhabitants  were  of  a  much  more  sturdy  and  independent  character. 
"  North  Carolina,"  says  the  historian,  "  like  ancient  Rome,  was  famed 
as  the  sanctuary  of  runaways.  Seventy  years  after  its  origin,  it  is 
described  as  a  country  where  there  is  scarce  any  form  of  government ; 
and  it  long  continued  to  be  said,  with  but  slight  exaggeration,  that  in 
North  Carolina  every  one  did  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes, 
paying  tribute  neither  to  God  nor  to  Csesar."  But  in  this  lawless 
state,  where  there  was  neither  church  nor  creed,  where  "  Quakers, 
Atheists,  Deists  and  other  evil-disposed  persons,"  lived  a  life  of 
freedom  and  peace,  all  went  well;  and  the  stone  which  marks  the 
grave,  beneath  the  shade  of  a  large  cedar-tree,  of  Henderson  Walker, 
the  governor  in  1694,  records  simply  that  "  North  Carolina,  during 
his  administration,  enjoyed  tranquillity." 

But  to  this  irreligious  state,  as  it  was  considered,  the  proprietaries 
determined  to  put  an  end,  by  establishing  episcopacy  as  the  religion 
of  the  colony ;  and  Robert  Daniel  was  sent  over  by  them  as  deputy- 
governor  for  this  purpose.  The  apple  of  discord  was  now  thrown  into 
the  colony,  and  long  and  bitter  disputes  followed,  the  Quakers  being 
accused  as  the  principal  fomenters  of  these  distractions.  The  colony 
was  broken  up  into  two  factions,  and  each  party  in  1706  had  their 
own  governor  and  their  own  house  of  representatives,  neither  of  which 
were  able  to  gain  the  ascendancy — the  one,  of  which  Thomas  Gary 
was  head,  wanting  a  legal  sanction ;  the  other,  led  by  William  Glover, 
popular  favour.  At  length,  Edward  Hyde,  a  relative  of  Quten 
Anne's,  was  sent  over,  in  the  hope  of  restoring  order;  and  he,  as  deputy- 
governor  of  North  Carolina,  was  to  receive  as  usual  his  commissicr 

14* 


322  HI3TOEY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

from  Tynte,  the  governor  of  South  Carolina ;  but  Tynte  was  dead 
when  he  arrived,  and  the  turbulent  people  of  North  Carolina  paid  him 
no  respect.  Affairs  grew  desperate ;  the  frisnds  of  Hyde  took  up 
arms  to  assert  his  power,  and  called  in  the  aid  of  Spotswood,  an 
experienced  soldier  and  governor  of  Virginia.  But  Spotswood,  though 
vehement  against  "the  mutinous  spirit  of  North  Carolina,  yet  pleaded 
the  difficulties  of  marching  forces  into  a  country  so  cut  up  with 
rivers;"  besides  which  he  had  no  troops  but  militia,  and  Virginia 
herself,  at  least  the  counties  bordering  on  Carolina,  "were  stocked 
with  Quakers ;"  and  he  only  sent  a  party  of  marines  from  the  guard- 
ship  as  an  evidence  of  his  good  disposition.  Cary  and  the  leaders  of 
his  party  having,  however,  appeared  in  Virginia  with  the  intention,  as 
they  said,  of  appealing  to  England  in  defence  of  their  actions,  were 
compelled  by  Spotswood  to  take  their  passage  in  a  man-of-war  just 
then  returning. 

Whilst  all  these  disturbances  were  going  forward,  North  Carolina 
increased  greatly  in  population.  Disturbances,  in  fact,  in  these 
young  American  states,  seem  to  have  been  merely  like  the  ebullitions 
of  vigorous  youth,  which  grows  in  spite  of  them,  and  through  which 
all  their  powers  are  brought  into  exercise.  In  1698,  the  first  settle- 
ments were  made  on  Pamlico  River,  the  Indians  of  that  vicinity 
having  been  nearly  destroyed  by  fever  and  the  ravages  of  war  with 
more  powerful  tribes.  In  1707,  a  number  of  French  Protestants 
removed  into  'Carolina  from  Virginia;  and  a  few  years  later,  a  hun 
dred  German  families  from  the  Palatinate,  whence  they  were  driven 
by  the  devastations  of  war  and  religious  persecution,  found  a  home 
there  also,  250  acres  of  land  being  assigned  by  the  proprietaries  to 
each  family. 

The  Revolution  produced  no  ill  effects  in  Virginia.  Francis 
Nicholson,  who  in  the  reign  of  James  had  been  expelled  from  New 
York  by  the  insurgents,  was  the  first  governor  of  Virginia  under 
William  III. ;  and  Andros,  "fresh  from  imprisonment  in  Massachu- 
setts," was  the  second.  To  Nicholson  Virginia  was  indebted  for  the 
establishment  of  the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  which  was 
endowed  by  a  gift  of  quit-rents  from  the  king  and  a  royal  domain, 
and  by  a  tax  of  a  penny  on  every  pound  weight  of  tobacco  exported 


(1694.)  INDEPENDENT   SPIRIT   OP  THE   VIRGINIANS.  323 

to  the  other  colonies.  To  Andros  it  owes  the  preservation  of  what 
few  annals  of  the  province  had  escaped  the  destruction  of  neglect, 
time  and  civil  war. 

Though  the  powers  granted  to  the  governor  were  exorbitant — "  the 
armed  force,  the  revenue,  the  interpretation  of  the  law,  the  adminis- 
tration of  justice,  the  church,  all  being  under  his  control  and  guard- 
ianship " — the  spirit  of  independence  was  vigorous  in  Virginia ;  and 
when,  in  1691,  the  revenue  being  exhausted  by  the  governor  and  his 
favourites,  additional  supplies  were  demanded,  the  assembly  claimed 
the  right,  and  maintained  it  too  for  some  time,  of  nominating  a  trea- 
surer of  their  own,  and  when  finally  this  right  was  refused,  declined 
to  contribute  their  quota  for  the  defence  of  the  colonies  against  France. 
Nay  indeed,  being  aware  of  the  revenue  derived  by  the  mother- 
country  from  the  duties  on  tobacco,  "  they  made,"  says  old  Quarry, 
"a  nice  inquiry  into  the  circumstances  of  government,  and  con- 
cluded that  the  assembly  itself  was  entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges of  an  English  parliament."  As  regarded  the  established  church, 
also,  these  independent  colonists  carried  things  very  much  in  their 
own  way.  The  Bishop  of  London  might  license,  and  the  governor 
might  recommend,  a  minister,  but  if  the  congregation  did  not  like 
him  they  would  not  have  him ;  and  by  refusing,  spite  of  all  protests, 
to  accept  a  minister  as  an  incumbent  for  life,  but  merely  as  a  servant 
of  the  congregation  from  year  to  year,  they  kept  the  power  in  their 
own  hands.  Virginia  was  the  opposite  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  though 
some  of  the  parishes  were  so  large  that  in  many  cases  the  inhabitants 
lived  fifty  miles  from  the  church,  the  assembly  would  not  be  at  the 
expense  of  altering  the  bounds,  though  it  was  threatened  with 
"paganism,  atheism,  or  sectaries."  Finally,  this  obstinacy  with 
regard  to  the  clergy  led  to  a  collision  with  the  crown.  In  the 
meantime  great  was  the  liberty  and  great  the  enjoyment  of  Virginia. 
She  had  no  large  towns,  no  marts  of  commerce;  "as  to  outward 
appearance,"  it  was  said,  "  Virginia  looked  like  a  wild  desert,"  and  in 
England  it  was  reported  to  be  "one  of  the  poorest,  miserablest  and 
worst  countries  in  all  America."  Tobacco  was  still  the  general  cur- 
rency, and  the  colony  having  no  vessels  of  its  own,  the  merchants' 
ships  lay  for  months  waiting  for  the  cargoes  which  their  boats 
picked  up  at  the  various  plantations. 


324  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

The  principles  of  liberty  for  which.  Bacon  had  perished  were  not  by 
any  means  dead.  "  Pernicious  opinions,  fatal  to  royal  prerogative," 
says  an  old  writer,  "  were  improving  daily ; "  and  though  the  Vir- 
ginians resented  any  charge  of  republicanism,  yet  the  colonial  mind 
was,  in  effect,  strongly  biased  that  way.  From  the  insurrection  of 
Bacon,  for  about  three-quarters  of  a  century,  Virginia  enjoyed  unin- 
terrupted peace. 

In  1710,  Governor  Spots  wood  penetrated  the  Blue  Ridge,  a  portion 
of  the  Allegany  chain,  an  enterprise  which  had  not  been  attempted 
since  the  days  of  Sir  William  Berkeley ;  and  though  settlers  were 
slow  to  advance  into  these  new  regions,  yet  the  Indian  trader,  gradu- 
ally crossing  the  Alleganies,  brought  back  knowledge  of  the  country 
on  the  Ohio  and  the  western  lakes. 

The  English  Revolution,  which  destroyed  the  doctrine  of  legiti- 
macy, was  fatal  to  the  claims  of  Lord  Baltimore.  He  had  left  Mary- 
land, to  assert  his  rights  in  England,  j  ust  before  the  deposition  of  James, 
entrusting  the  administration  of  the  colony  to  nine  deputies ;  and 
these  having  hesitated  for  some  time  to  proclaim  the  new  sovereign, 
a  rumour  gained  ground  of  a  plot  between  the  Catholics  and  Indians 
for  the  murder  of  the  Protestants,  and  an  armed  association  was 
formed  for  asserting  the  rights  of  King  William  and  for  the  defence 
of  the»protestant  faith. 

This  rumour  was  utterly  baseless,  but  the  Catholics  were  compelled 
to  surrender  all  power  of  government,  and  the  king  proceeded,  against 
every  claim  of  justice,  to  deprive  Lord  Baltimore  of  his  charter, 
though  no  charge  existed  against  him  but  that  of  being  a  Catholic. 
In  1692,  Sir  Lionel  Copley  arrived  in  Maryland  as  the  royal  commis- 
sioner, and  the  whole  system  of  government  was  arbitrarily  changed. 
"  The  first  act  of  the  new  assembly  recognised  William  and  Mary ; 
the  second  established  the  Church  of  England  as  the  religion  of  the 
state,  to  be  supported  by  general  taxation."  Toleration  was,  how- 
ever, secured  to  Protestant  Dissenters ;  the  Quakers  travelled  about 
on  their  "  religious  visits  "  as  well  as  "  a  sort  of  wandering  pretenders 
from  New  England,  who  deluded  even  churchmen,  we  are  told,  by 
their  extempore  prayers  and  preachments."  All  were  tolerated 
excepting  the  Catholics,  they  who  had  been  the  founders  of  the  pro- 


(1694.)  MARYLAND,   AND   ITS   CONDITION.  325 

vince,  and  the  first  to  acknowledge  and  legislate  for  liberty  of  con- 
science for  all ;  they  were  subjected  to  a  system  of  legalised  persecu- 
tion ;  mass  was  forbidden  to  be  celebrated  publicly ;  catholic  priests 
were  forbidden  to  preach  or  teach,  and  children  were  basely  tempted 
to  change  their  profession  of  religion  by  the  offered  bribe  of  a  portion 
of  their  parents'  property.  And,  pitiable  to  say,  Benedict,  the  son  of 
Lord  Baltimore,  the  worthy  catholic  proprietary,  only  recovered  the 
province  by  renouncing  the  catholic  church  for  that  of  England,  in 
the  year  1715. 

Maryland,  like  Virginia,  had  no  large  towns,  and  remained  undis- 
turbed by  either  Indians  or  French.  "  Its  staple  was  tobacco,  yet 
hemp  and  flax  were  raised,  and  all  were  employed  as  currency.  In 
Somerset  and  Dorchester  the  manufacture  of  linen  and  even  woollen 
cloth  was  attempted.  In  Maryland,  white  labourers  being  found 
more  advantageous  than  negroes,  the  market  was  always  well  sup- 
plied with  them,  the  price  vtrying  from  £12  to  £30.  Maryland 
was  the  most  southern  colony  which,  in  1695,  consented  to  pay  its 
quota  towards  the  defence  of  New  York,  thus  forming  from  Chesa- 
peake to  Maine  an  imperfect  confederacy.  The  union  was  increased 
by  a  public  post.  Eight  times  in  the  year  letters  might  be  for- 
warded from  the  Potomac  to  Philadelphia.  Public  education  was 
talked  of,  and  promised  by  the  assembly,  but  not  carried  out.  The 
population  increased,  though  not  rapidly.  In  1710  bond  and  free 
amounted  to  about  30,000  ;  a  bounty  still  continued  to  be  offered  for 
every  wolf's  head  ;  the  roads  to  the  capital  were  marked  by  notches 
on  trees ;  and  water-mills  still  solicited  legislative  encouragement.* 

William  Penn,'more  fortunate  than  his  neighbour  Lord  Baltimore, 
recovered  his  province  without  any  compromise  of  principle.  Within 
two  years  after  the  Revolution,  he  had  been  three  several  times 
arrested  and  tried,  and  openly  acquitted ;  and  now,  in  1 690,  he  deter- 
mined once  more  to  visit  his  province,  where,  spite  of  all  his  efforts  at 
good  and  happy  government,  discontent  existed.  Numbers  of  emi- 
grants were  again  prepared  to  accompany  him,  "  a  convoy  was  granted, 
and  the  fleet  ready  to  sail,  when,  on  his  return  from  the  funeral  of 
George  Fox,  messengers  were  sent  to  apprehend  him."  «  Three  times 
*  Bancroft. 


326  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

having  been  tried,  and  three  times  acquitted,"  says  Bancroft,  "  he 
now  went  into  retirement.  Locke  would  have  interceded  for  him, 
but  he  refused  clemency,  waiting  rather  for  justice.  The  delay  com- 
pleted the  wreck  of  his  fortunes ;  sorrow  lowered  over  his  family ;  the 
wife  of  his  youth  died  ;  his  eldest  son  had  no  vigorous  hold  on  life  ; 
and  many,  even  among  his  friends,  cavilled  at  his  conduct."  It  was 
a  deep  baptism  of  sorrow ;  but  he  had  still  powerful  advocates  who 
interceded  successfully  for  him.  "  He  is  my  old  acquaintance,"  said 
William  of  Orange,  finally  ;  "  he  may  follow  his  business  as  freely  as 
ever ;  I  have  nothing  to  say  against  him."  His  innocence  was  fully 
established,  and  in  August,  1694,  he  was  restored  to  his  proprietary 
rights. 

But  for  the  pressure  of  poverty,  Penn  would  have  immediately 
embarked  for  his  province ;  but  this  he  was  not  able  to  do  until  the 
last  year  of  the  century ;  and  in  the  meantime  Pennsylvania  was 
governing  itself  by  the  members  of  1&e  assembly,  who  acting  upon 
Penn's  liberal  permission  that  "  the  government  should  be  settled  in  a 
condition  to  please  the  generality,"  altered,  and  disputed,  and  altered 
again,  paying  little  regard  to  the  men  whom  Penn  had  left  in  autho- 
rity, until  at  length  all  seemed  settled  to  the  public  satisfaction  and 
nothing  was  wanting  but  concert  with  the  proprietary. 

William  Penn  was  once  more  in  his  beloved  province — no  longer  in 
the  prime  of  manhood,  full  of  hope  and  joy,  but  gentle  and  concilia- 
tory as  ever.  "  Keep  to  what  is  good  in  the  charter  and  frame  of 
government,"  said  he,  addressing  the  assembly  the  following  spring, 
"  and  lay  aside  what  is  burdensome,  and  add  what  may  best  suit  the 
common  good."  The  old  charter  was  surrendered,  which  was  a 
much  easier  thing  than  the  forming  of  a  constitution,  which  should 
prove,  as  a  member  of  the  council  expressed  himself,  "  firm  and  last- 
ing to  themselves  and  their  children."  This  was  a  difficult  undertaking, 
besides  which,  the  lower  counties  on  the  Delaware,  dreading  to  lose 
the  independence  which  they  had  lately  enjoyed,  refused  a  re-union 
with  Pennsylvania,  and  hot  and  bitter  disputes  were  the  conse- 
quence. 

In  the  midst  of  their  disputes  both  parties  were  startled,  and 
brought  again  into  pacific  relationship,  by  the  news  that  the  English 
parliament  was  about  to  annul  every  colonial  charter.  The  occasion 


(1694.)  THE    CHARTER   OF   PRIVILEGES.  327 

was  momentous ;  Penn,  who  had  come  to  America  with  the  hope  of 
ending  his  days  in  this  province  of  his  love,  found  it  necessary  imme- 
diately to  return  to  England,  to  defend  the  common  rights  of  himself 
and  Pennsylvania.  His  hopes  seemed  in  all  ways  destined  to  dis- 
appointment. At  this  moment  his  words  to  the  assembly  were: 
"  Since  all  men  are  mortal,  think  of  some  suitable  expedient  and  pro- 
vision for  your  safety,  as  well  in  your  privileges  as  your  property,  and 
you  will  find  me  ready  to  comply  with  whatever  may  render  us  happy 
by  a  nearer  union  of  our  interests.  Review  again  your  laws ;  pro- 
pose new  ones  that  may  better  your  circumstances ;  and  what  you  do, 
do  quickly.  Unanimity  and  despatch  may  contribute  to  the  disap- 
pointment of  those  that  so  long  have  sought  the  ruin  of  our  young 
country." 

The  new  constitution  was  called  the  "  Charter  of  Privileges."  The 
territories  were  allowed  to  separate  themselves  from  Pennsylvania,  as 
they  desired ;  and  from  that  time  Delaware  has  been  an  independent 
province.  Penn  would  gladly  have  legislated  for  the  sanctity  of 
marriage  among  the  slaves,  but  he  was  defeated :  nor  yet  could  he 
carry  out  all  his  benevolent  plans  for  the  Indians,  though  he  obtained 
a  law  for  the  prevention  of  fraud  in  trading  with  them ;  and  again 
treaties  of  peace  were  renewed  with  the  Onondagas  and  their  tribu- 
taries on  the  Susquehanna. 

By  the  Charter  of  Privileges,  which  now  became  the  fundamental 
law  as  long  as  the  proprietary  government  lasted,  the  legislative 
power  was  vested  in  the  governor  and  assembly  to  be  annually 
chosen,  to  sit  upon  its  own  adjournments,  and  to  propose  bills  sub- 
ject only  to  the  assent  of  the  governor.  Sheriffs  and  coroners  were 
appointed  by  the  people  ;  questions  of  property  could  not  be  brought 
before  the  governor  and  council ;  and  the  justiciary  was  left  to  the 
legislature,  which  gave  occasion  to  after  disputes.  Entire  religious 
liberty  was  established. 

"  And  now,"  says  Bancroft,  "  having  divested  himself  and  his  suc- 
cessors of  any  power  to  injure,  Penn  had  founded  a  democracy.  By  the 
necessities  of  the  case,  he  remained  the  feudal  sovereign  ;  for  only  as 
such  could  he  grant  or  have  maintained  the  charter  of  colonial  liber- 
ties. But  time  and  the  people  would  remove  the  inconsistency. 


328  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Having  thus  given  freedom  and  popular  power  to  his  provinces,  no 
strifes  remaining  but  strifes  about  property,  happily  for  himself,  he 
departed  from  the  young  country  of  his  affections." 

Penn  left  James  Logan,  for  many  years  the  colonial  secretary  and 
member  of  the  council,  the  agent  of  his  private  property,  who  was 
able,  by  his  mild  but  firm  character,  to  maintain  Penn's  rights  against 
the  encroaching,  mean  spirit  of  the  colonists,  whose  selfish  bar- 
gaining contrasted  so  painfully  with  the  broad  liberality  of  the 
proprietary. 

In  England,  the  virtue  and  sacrifices  of  William  Penn  were  not 
without  acknowledgment;  he  retained  his  province.  His  poverty 
might  have  induced  him  to  part  with  it  to  the  crown  ;  but  insisting 
on  the  liberties  which  he  had  granted  being  unannulled,  the  crown 
hardly  set  any  value  upon  it ;  and  when,  distressed  and  worn  out  with 
the  angry  and  unworthy  disputes  of  the  province  with  him  on  ques- 
tions of  property,  he  threatened  to  resign  his  powers  to  government, 
the  province,  like  a  spoiled  child  threatened  with  the  rod,  yielded  at 
once  and  promised  no  further  offending.  The  early  Pennsylvanians 
were  in  fact  spoiled  by  the  kindness  and  concessions  of  Penn ;  they 
were  incapable  of  comprehending  the  breadth  of  his  practical  Christi- 
anity ;  they  almost  despised  him  for  it,  and  treated  him  with  no  con- 
sideration. 

Writs  had  been  issued  by  James  II.  against  the  charters  both  of 
East  and  West  Jersey,  and  the  whole  province  was  placed  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  Andros,  governor  of  New  York.  The  Revolution  ter- 
minated the  authority  of  Andros ;  and  from  June,  1689,  to  August, 
1693,  New  Jersey  had  no  regular  government  whatever,  both  the 
east  and  west  portions  being  broken  up  into  factions,  headed  by  dif- 
ferent proprietaries,  which  kept  the  country  in  a  very  unsettled  state. 
At  length  the  proprietaries,  threatened  by  parliament,  and  finding  no 
means  of  settling  their  contending  claims,  as  well  as  a  great  falling 
off  in  their  profits,  agreed  to  surrender  their  authority  to  the  crown  ; 
and  in  the  first  year  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  New  Jersey  became  a 
royal  province,  the  claims  of  private  property  being  in  every 
respected* 


(1701.)  CONSTITUTION   OP  NEW  JERSEY.  329 

On  the  surrender  of  the  proprietary  claims  to  government,  the  two 
Jerseys  wore  united  in  one  province,  and  the  government  conferred 
on  Edward  Hyde,  Lord  Cornbury,  of  whom  we  shall  iiear  more  anon. 

The  commission  and  instructions  to  Lord  Cornbury  formed  the 
constitution  of  New  Jersey.  The  legislative  power  was  vested  in  the 
governor  with  the  consent  of  the  royal  council  and  representatives  of 
the  people ;  the  elective  franchise  required  a  property  qualification ; 
all  laws  were  subject  to  a  veto  of  the  governor  and  the  crown.  The 
governor,  with  consent  of  his  council,  instituted  courts  of  law  and 
appointed  ,their  officers ;  the  people  had  no  part  in  the  justiciary. 
Liberty  of  conscience  was  granted  to  all  but  Catholics ;  and  favour 
was  invoked  for  the  Church  of  England.*  Two  of  the  royal  instruc- 
tions deserve  notice :  First,  "  great  inconveniences,"  says  the  queen, 
•''may  arise  by  the  liberty  of  printing  in  our  province  of  New  Jersey; 
t  therefore,  no  book,  pamphlet,  or  other  matter  whatsoever  may  be 
printed  without  a  licence."  Secondly,  the  "  traffic  in  merchantable 
negroes  "  was  especially  enjoined. 

A  change  was  come  over  the  administration  of  New  Jersey  since 
the  days  when  honest  Thomas  Olive,  the  governor  of  "West  Jersey, 
had  been  satisfied  with  a  salary  of  £20  a  year,  and  had  administered 
justice  as  a  magistrate,  sitting  on  the  stump  of  a.tree  in  his  field. 
New  Jersey  was  now  a  royal  united  province,  and  a  kinsman  of  the 
queen  wa<^  its  ruler;  but  the  change  was  not  palatable  to  the  sturdy 
quaker  and  puritan  spirit  of  the  colony.  The  history  of  Lord  Corn- 
bury's  administration  was  that  of  continual  contention  with  the 
assemblies.  But  through  all  this,  as  we  shall  find  was  the  case  in 
New  York,  a  more  vigorous  spirit  of  liberty  awoke  in  the  province. 

The  last  meeting  of  Lord  Cornbury  with  the  assembly  of  New  Jersey 
is,  however,  worth  recording.  Samuel  Jennings,  speaker  of  the 
assembly,  a  steadfast  Quaker,  was  deputed  to  read  a  remonstrance  to 
him  on  his  acceptance  of  bribes,  his  new  method  of  government,  his 
encroachment  on  public  liberties,  and  a  long  list  of  other  offences,  all 
very  plain-spoken,  as  befitted  an  assembly  of  which  a  fearless,  uncom- 
promising Quaker  was  the  speaker.  "  Stop !"  exclaimed  Lord  Corn- 
bury,  not  relishing  the  nature  of  the  remonstrance.  Again  Jennings 
repeated  the  charges  with  greater  emphasis  than  before.  On  this 
*  Bancroft. 


330  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Lord  Cornbury  retorted  by  charging  the  Quakers  with  disloyalty  aiid 
a  factious  spirit;  and  they,  in  return,  replied  in  the  words  of 
Nehemiah  to  Sanballat,  "  There  is  no  such  thing  done  as  thou  sayest, 
but  thou  feignest  them  out  of  thine  own  heart !"  And  finally,  said 
they,  "to  engage  the  affections  of  the  people,  no  artifice  is  needful, 
but  to  let  them  be  unmolested  in  the  enjoyment  of  what  belongs  to 
them  of  right." 

As  regards  New  York,  we  must  take  up  the  thread  of  history  some- 
what before  the  Revolution,  having  last  parted  from  it  when  Sir 
Edmund  Andros,  the  governor,  made  his  ineffectual  attempt  on  Con- 
necticut. The  government  of  Andros  was  arbitrary  and  unpopular, 
the  people  having  no  share  in  the  legislation,  and  no  voice  in  the 
imposition  of  taxes,  while  the  popular  institutions  of  New  Jersey  on 
the  one  hand,  and  Connecticut  on  the  other,  served  but  to  increase 
their  dissatisfaction  by  contrast. 

Thomas  Dongan,  a  Catholic,  succeeded  Andros  as  governor;  he 
arrived  in  the  province  in  1683,  and  by  the  advice  of  William  Penn, 
came  with  instructions  from  the  duke  to  convene  an  assembly  of 
representatives.  The  first  assembly,  consisting  of  a  council  and 
eighteen  representatives,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  colony,  met  the 
following  year,  and  a  "  Charter  of  Liberties "  was  granted,  which 
declared  the  supreme  legislative  power  to  reside  in  the  governor, 
council  and  people,  met  in  general  assembly;  that  every  freeman  and 
freeholder  should  enjoy  the  elective  franchise;  that  no  freeman  should 
suffer  but  by  judgment  of  his  peers,  and  that  all  trials  should  be  by  a 
jury  of  twelve  men ;  that  no  tax  should  be  assessed  but  with  consent 
of  the  assembly;  that  no  seaman  or  soldier  should  be  quartered  on  the 
inhabitants  against  their  will ;  that  no  martial  law  should  exist ;  and 
that  no  one  professing  faith  in  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  should  at  any 
time  be  in  any  way  disquieted  or  questioned  for  any  difference  of 
opinion  in  matters  of  religion. 

In  1684,  the  governors  of  New  York  and  Virginia  met  the  deputies 
of  the  Five  Nations  at  Albany,  on  the  Hudson,  and  renewed  with 
them  a  treaty  of  peace. 

On  the  accession  of  the  Duke  of  York  to  the  throne,  the  people  of 
his  province  naturally  expected,  if  not  favour,  at  least  the  continuation 


(1689.)  INSURRECTION  ON  THE  ACCESSION  OP  WILLIAM  AND  MARY.       331 

of  a  representative  government,  which,  however,  was  in  part  with- 
drawn ;  an  arbitrary  tax  was  imposed,  and  printing-presses  forbidden. 
It  was  soon  perceived  that  the  intention  of  the  king  was  to  introduce 
the  catholic  religion  into  the  province,  and  the  officers  appointed  by 
him  were  of  that  faith ;  this  added  to  the  general  dissatisfaction. 

The  exiled  governor,  Dongan,  was  recalled  by  James  II.,  shortly 
before  his  abdication,  and  Francis  Nicholson,  lieutenant-general  of 
Andros,  who  was  now  governor  of  New  England,  succeeded  him. 
Dread  of  the  establishment  of  Popery  added  to  general  discontent, 
and  the  want  of  perfect  good  feeling  between  the  Dutch  and  English 
inhabitants  of  the  province  caused  any  change  to  be  welcomed  with 
joy;  accordingly  the  news  of  the  deposition  of  James,  and  the  acces- 
sion of  William  and  Mary,  was  received  with  enthusiasm,  and  the 
people  rose  in  rebellion  to  the  existing  government. 

Jacob  Leisler,  a  Dutch  merchant  and  captain  of  militia,  whose  tem- 
perament, however,  unfitted  him  for  the  command,  was  elected  by 
the  insurgents  as  their  leader.  Opposed  to  this  faction  were  the  large 
Dutch  landholders,  some  English  merchants,  the  friends  of  episco- 
pacy, and  the  government  party ;  nevertheless,  at  the  head  of  several 
hundred  men  and  a  few  companies  of  militia,  and  with  the  general 
populace  in  his  favour,  Leisler,  at  the  commencement  of  June,  took 
possession  of  the  Fort  of  New  York,  in  the  name  of  William  and  Mary, 
to  whom  an  address  was  sent,  which  in  due  course  was  received  with- 
out disapprobation  by  King  William. 

Dongan,  who  had  not  yet  left  the  harbour,  was  joined  by  Nicholson, 
thus  deprived  of  his  authority,  and  the  two  hastened  to  England.  The 
magistrates  in  the  meantime,  unable  to  resist  this  popular  movement, 
after  seeing  Leisler  appointed  by  a  committee  of  safety  as  temporary 
governor  of  the  province,  retired  to  Albany  on  the  Hudson,  where, 
denying  the  authority  of  Leisler,  they  yet  continued  their  administra- 
tion in  the  name  of  William  and  Mary.  Milborne,  the  son-in-law  of 
Leisler,  who  had  just  arrived  from  England,  was  appointed  by  him 
secretary  of  the  province,  and  sent  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the 
Fort  of  Albany,  which  of  course  was  refused. 

About  this  time,  a  letter  arriving  from  the  king,  addressed  to 
"  Francis  Nicholson,  or  to  such  as,  for  the  time  being1,  take  care  for 
the  preserving  the  peace  and  administering  the  law  in  New  York," 


332  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

together  with  a  royal  commission;  Leisler,  in  Nicholson's  absence, 
regarded  his  own  authority  as  now  sanctioned  by  the  monarch. 

In  the  meantime,  France  having  espoused  the  cause  of  James,  war 
was  declared  with  England,  and  the  little  party  at  Albany,  alarmed 
by  the  hostile  inroads  of  the  French  and  their  Indian  allies  on  the 
frontier  settlements,  and  weakened  by  internal  discord,  yielded  up  the 
fort  to  Milborne. 

The  horrors  of  intercolonial  war  were  now  beginning.  As  soon  as 
the  declaration  of  war  between  France  and  England  was  known, 
Count  Fontenac,  who  had  but  lately  arrived  in  Canada— a  man  of 
extraordinary  capacity  and  energy  of  character,  although  approaching 
seventy  years  of  age — prepared  to  visit,  upon  the  English  frontier, 
some  of  the  miseries  which  Canada  herself  had  so  lately  suffered  from 
the  hands  of  the  Five  Nations.  Three  several  expeditions  were 
planned,  all  of  \vhich  were  successful.  The  war-parties  consisted 
principally  of  converted  Indians,  chiefly  Mohawks ;  the  fruits  of  the 
self-denying  perseverance  of  the  French  missionaries  being  made  use 
of  for  the  most  barbarous  purposes.  Religious  zeal  was  added  to 
native  ferocity;  the  English  were  represented  not  only  as  enemies 
but  as  heretics,  to  destroy  whom  it  was  their  duty  as  Christians,  and 
their  glory  as  soldiers. 

In  January,  1690,  whilst  the  province  of  New  York  was  convulsed 
by  internal  tumults,  one  of  these  war-parties,  advancing  in  single  file 
through  the  deep  snow,  a  track  being  made  by  the  snow-shoes  of  the 
foremost,  arrived  at  Schenactady,  a  Dutch  village  on  the  Mohawk, 
after  twenty-two  days'  march.  It  was  midnight,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  asleep,  fearless  of  danger,  when  at  once  the  awful  war-whoop 
roused  them,  and  the  most  dreadful  scenes  of  murder,  fire  and  devas- 
tation succeeded.  Sixty  lay  dead  in  the  street;  seven-and-twenty 
were  taken  prisoners ;  the  rest,  half  naked,  fled  towards  Albany  amid 
driving  snow,  some  perishing  by  the  way,  others  losing  their  limbs 
by  the  intensity  of  the  cold.  The  terror  of  this  attack  decided  the 
party  who  held  it  to  give  up  Albany  to  Leisler. 

The  whole  of  the  following  summer  was  spent  in  fruitless  prepara- 
tion and  attempts,  in  conjunction  with  Connecticut,  to  protect  their 
frontiers,  and  invade  Canada;  but  all  ended  in  unsuccess,  and  distrust 
and  confusion  prevailed  throughout  the  miserable  province.  In 


(1691.)  ARRIVAL  OF  COLONEL  SLOUGHTER EXECUTION  OF  LEISLER.  333 

January  of  1691,  Kichard  Ingoldsby  arrived  from  England  with  a 
commission  as  captain,  and  announcing  the  speedy  arrival  of  Colonel 
Sloughter  as  governor.  He  demanded  possession  of  the  fort,  but  not 
producing  any  order  from  the  king,  nor  yet  from  the  expected 
governor  to  that  purpose,  Leisler  refused  to  yield,  promising  him 
courteously,  at  the  same  time,  aid  as  a  military  officer.  Ingoldsby, 
angry  at  opposition,  and  supported  by  the  enemies  of  Leisler,  pro- 
ceeded to  land  his  troops,  at  the  same  time  denouncing  Leisler  and 
his  garrison  as  traitors.  The  passions  of  the  militia  were  roused,  and, 
greatly  to  the  grief  and  dismay  of  Leisler,  shots  were  fired,  by  which 
several  lives  were  lost. 

On  March  19th,  Colonel  Sloughter,  "a  profligate,  needy,  and  nar- 
row-minded adventurer,"  entered  the  harbour.  Leisler  immediately 
sent  messengers  to  receive  his  orders ;  the  messengers  were  detained . 
the  next  morning  he  wrote,  inquiring  to  whom  he  should  surrender 
the  fort.  Sloughter's  only  reply  was  an  order  to  Ingoldsby  to  arrest 
Leisler  and  his  council.  The  following  day  Leisler,  Milborne,  and  six 
others,  were  under  arrest  and  brought  up  to  trial  before  a  special 
court,  composed  of  the  adverse  party.  Six  of  the  prisoners  were 
immediately  found  guilty  of  high  treason,  but  afterwards  reprieved. 
Leisler  and  Milborne,  denying  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  by  which 
they  were  tried,  refused  to  plead,  and  appealed  to  the  king.  But  they 
were  condemned  of  high  treason  as  mutes,  and  sentenced  to  death. 
Nevertheless,  Sloughter  hesitated  to  carry  the  sentence  into  execution, 
until  the  will  of  the  king  should  be  known,  writing  to  him  "  that 
certainly  never  greater  villains  lived."  . 

The  friends  of  Leisler  boldly  defended  his  conduct,  but  the  opposite 
party  was  now  in  power,  and  the  execution  of  Leisler  and  his  son-in- 
law  was  demanded ;  still  Sloughter  hesitated,  but  nothing  could  allay 
the  bitter  hatred  of  Leisler's  enemies.  At  a  dinner-party,  therefore, 
when  Sloughter  was  intoxicated,  they  obtained  from  him  the  signa- 
tures of  the  death-warrants,  and  before  he  had  recovered  his  senses, 
the  executions  had  taken  place. 

On  the  16th  of  May,  amid  drenching  rain,  Leisler  having  taken 
leave  of  his  wife  and  his  numerous  family,  he  and  his  son-in-law  were 
conducted  to  the  gallows  outside  the  city-wall.  "Guarded  by  troops/' 
says  the  historian-  "  the  sad  procession  moved  on,  thronged  about  by 


334  HISTORY  OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

weeping  friends  and  exulting  enemies.  More  distressed  for  the  fate 
of  his  son-in-law  than  for  his  own,  Leisler  admitted  that  he  might 
have  fallen  into  error ;  and  turning  to  the  sorrowing  populace,  said, 
'  Weep  not  for  us,  we  are  going  to  our  God;  but  weep  for  yourselves 
that  remain  behind  in  misery  and  vexation.'"  The  handkerchief  was 
bound  round  his  face,  and  he  said,  "  I  hope  these  eyes  shall  see  our 
Lord  Jesus  in  heaven!"  These  were  his  last  words.  Livingstone,  one 
of  the  leaders  of  the  adverse  party,  pressed  forward  to  the  prisoners 
to  gratify  himself  with  the  sight  of  their  last  moments.  "I  will 
implead  thee  at  the  bar  of  God  for  this,"  said  Milborne.  His  last 
words  were:  "I  die  for  the  king  and  queen  and  the  Protestant 
religion  in  which  I  was  born  and  bred.  Father,  into  thy  hands  I 
commit  my  spirit!"  The  distressed  people,  with  cries  and  tears, 
rushed  forward  to  receive  some  last  memento  of  their  favourite 
leaders,  a  fragment  of  their  clothes  or  a  lock  of  hair. 

The  rain  poured  down  in  torrents ;  but  no  rain  could  wash  away 
the  effect  of  that  blood,  the  shedding  of  which  was  regarded  by  the 
populace  as  base  murder.  The  appeal  to  the  king  was  prosecuted 
by  Leisler's  son;  and  a  committee  of  the  Lords  Commissioners  of 
Trade  ordered  the  estates  of  the  deceased  to  be  restored  to  their 
families.  But  more  was  required;  and  in  1695  the  attainder  was 
reversed,  after  which  the  bodies  were  disinterred,  and  after  lying  in 
state,  were  re-buried  in  the  old  Dutch  church. 

The  execution  of  these  two  popular  leaders  did  more  to  strengthen 
their  cause  than  their  lives  could  possibly  have  done.  Their  friends, 
who  were  "  always  distinguished  by  their  zeal  for  popular  power,  for 
toleration,  for  their  opposition  to  the  doctrine  of  legitimacy,'*  formed 
a  powerful  and  ultimately  a  successful  party.  Leisler  and  Milborne 
being  no  more,  it  was  not  long  before  a  contest  began  between  the 
assembly,  composed  of  aristocratic  members,  and  the  English  mon- 
arch, for  their  rights  and  privileges  as  British  subjects ;  and  in  the 
meantime  the  war  with  Canada  went  on. 

After  four  months  of  inefficient  and  turbulent  administration^ 
Governor  Sloughter  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Colonel  Benjamin 
Fletcher,  a  man  as  unprincipled  and  as  little  fitted  for  his  post  as  his 
predecessor.  Fletcher  revived  the  old  scheme  of  extending  the 
territory  of  New  York  from  Connecticut  River  to  Delaware  Bay . 


(1691.)  BENJAMIN   FLETCHER   GOVERNOR   OF   NEW   YORK.  335 

and  by  royal  commission  he  had  command  of  the  militia  of  New 
Jersey  and  Connecticut.  The  war  with  Canada  requiring  the  defence 
of  the  frontiers,  an  address  was  sent  to  the  king  requesting  that  the 
other  colonies  might  he  compelled  to  furnish  their  quota  of  troops. 
Parliament,  attempted  to  compel  this  from  all  the  colonies  north  of 
Carolina ;  but  several  of  them  refused,  as  we  have  already  stated,  and 
it  was  never  enforced. 

Inadequate  as  Fletcher  was  for  the  office  of  governor  in  the  then 
excited  state  of  the  colony,  he  had  the  prudence  to  be  guided  in  Indian 
affairs  by  Major  Schuyler,  who  possessed  great  influence  over  the 
Iroquois,  by  whom  he  was  called  "  Quidder,"  they  being  unable  to 
pronounce  his  Christian  name  of  Peter.  Schuyler  was  a  brave,  intel- 
ligent, and  humane  man;  and  having  great  influence  over  the  border 
tribes,  was  extremely  useful  to  the  governor,  who  had  the  good  sense 
to  admit  him  to  the  council.  Shortly  after  Fletcher's  arrival,  the 
French  having  made  an  incursion  into  the  Mohawk  country  and 
taken  captive  300  of  their  warriors,  were  pursued  by  Schuyler  from 
Albany,  and  by  Fletcher,  who  posted  from  New  York  with  a  body  of 
troops.  They  did  not  overtake  the  invaders ;  but  the  Iroquois,  greatly 
pleased  by  the  promptitude  of  action  exhibited  by  Fletcher,  gave  him 
the  name  of  Cayenguirago,  or  the  Great  Swift  Arrow. 

Fletcher,  besides  his  commission  for  New  York,  was  appointed 
governor  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware,  this  being  the  time  when 
Penn  was  deprived  of  his  charter. 

In  the  spirit  of  the  Revolution  of  1688,  Fletcher  was  a  zealot  for 
the  establishment  of  the  episcopal  church,  and,  under  the  plea  of 
introducing  uniformity  in  the  language  and  literature  as  well  as  the 
religion  of  the  colony,  the  inhabitants  of  which  were  a  mixture  of 
Dutch  and  English,  he  introduced  into  the  assembly  a  bill  for  the 
settlement  of  episcopalian  ministers  of  his  own  selection  throughout 
the  province.  This  bill  gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  party  spirit ;  and 
finally  it  was  agreed  that  ministers  should  be  settled  in  certain 
parishes,  but  that  the  choice  should  be  left  to  the  people. 

"  New  York  is  the  most  northern  colony  which  admitted  by  enact- 
ment the  partial  establishment  of  the  Anglican  Church."  The 
dissenters  kept  strict  watch  henceforth  that  the  episcopacy,  favoured 
by  England,  made  no  further  inroad  on  their  rights. 


336  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  peace  of  Ryswick  terminated  for  the  present  the  war  with  the 
French ;  and  the  Earl  of  Bellaniont,  a  man  of  integrity,  and  with  warm 
sympathies  for  popular  freedom,  arriving  as  governor  in  April,  1G98, 
the  dawn  of  a  calmer  day  seemed  at  hand.  The  commission  of  Bella- 
mont  embraced  the  whole  of  the  British  northern  territory  from  the 
confines  of  Canada  to  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island.  His  kinsman, 
John  Nanfan,  who  accompanied  him,  was  appointed  lieutenant- 
governor  of  New  York.  Bellamont  having  served  on  the  parlia- 
mentary committee  which  had  inquired  into  the  trials  of  Leisler  and 
Milborne,  viewed  the  aggressions  of  the  opposite  party  with  great 
disapprobation ;  and  under  his  administration  it  was  that  the  stigma 
was  removed  from  the  memory  of  those  injured  men,  and  justice  done 
to  their  families. 

Fletcher,  "  who  was  accused  of  winking  at  violations  of  the  Acts  of 
Trade,  and  favouring  the  pirates  who  frequented  the  American 
harbours,"  was  removed  from  his  post  on  this  ground,  and  the  Earl 
of  Bellamont  was  strictly  enjoined  to  their  vigilant  suppression.  The 
buccaneers,  at  the  remonstrance  of  Spain,  being  no  longer  supported 
by  France  and  England,  had  now  become  sugar-planters,  holding 
large  possessions  of  slaves  in  Jamaica,  Hay  ti,  and  St.  Domingo,  which 
were  now  thriving  islands  through  their  means.  Piracy,  however, 
still  remained  to  a  vast  and  increasing  extent,  every  sea  from  China 
to  America  being  infested  with  these  profligate  robbers,  who  were 
often  welcomed  to  the  colonial  harbours  on  account  of  the  wealth  they 
brought  and  the  freedom  of  their  expenditure. 

Before  Bellamont  left  England,  a  company  was  formed  for  the  sup- 
pression of  piracy;  and  it  being  supposed  that  great  wealth  would 
accrue  from  the  re-capture  of  the  pirate  vessels,  the  king  himself,  the 
Earl  of  Bellamont,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Somers,  the  Earls  of  Shrews- 
bury, Romney,  and  Oxford,  all  held  shares.  By  the  advice  of  Robert 
Livingstone,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  then  in  England,  and  himself 
a  partner,  the  command  of  a  vessel  fitted  out  for  this  purpose  was 
given  to  Captain  Kidd,  a  ship-builder  of  New  York. 

Kidd,  duly  commissioned,  hastened  to  Plymouth  in  April,  1696; 
but  turning  pirate  himself,  sailed  into  the  eastern  seas,  where  he 
carried  on  great  depredations.  The  wealth  he  thus  amassed  was 
buried,  tradition  says,  on  the  east  end  of  Long  Island,  after  which, 


(1698.)  CAPTAIN  KIDD,   THE   PIRATE.  337 

according  to  the  same  source,  lie  burned  or  sunk  his  ship,  the  famous 
Quedah  Merchant,  and  had  the  hardihood  to  take  up  his  quarters  at 
Boston,  where,  in  1698,  he  was  arrested  by  Bellamont,  who  also  held 
a  commission  as  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  sent  to  England  for 
trial.  The  ship  being  driven  back  by  the  storm,  gave  rise  to  a 
rumour,  that  the  ministry  then  in  power  were  afraid  of  having  Kidd 
brought  to  trial,  on  account  of  so  many  powerful  Whig  names  being 
implicated  in  his  piracy.  This  led  to  an  impeachment  of  several  of 
the  adventurers  in  the  House  of  Lords ;  but  Kidd,  and  nine  of  his 
men,  being  easily  found  guilty,  were  condemned  and  executed  for 
piracy  and  murder.  The  adventures  and  fate  of  Captain  Kidd  form 
the  subject  of  one  of  the  very  few  popular  ballads  which  the  history 
of  America  has  given  rise  to  in  that  country;  which  shows  what  hold 
the  deeds  of  this  bold  sea-robber  took  on  the  public  mind.* 

*  Te  lamentable  Ballad  and  ye  True  Historie  of  Captain  William  Kidd, 
who  was  Hanged  in  Chains  at  Execution  Book,  for  Piracie  and  Murder  on 
ye  High  Seas. 

You  captains  bold  and  brave,  hear  our  cries,  hear  our  cries, 

You  captains  bold  and  brave,  hear  our  cries, 
You  captains  brave  and  bold,  though  you  seem  uncontroll'd, 

Don't  for  the  sake  of  gold  iose  your  souls. 

Don't  for  the  sake  of  gold  lose  your  souls. 

My  name  was  Captain  Kidd,  when  I  sail'd,  when  I  sail'd, 

My  name  was  Captain  Kidd,  when  I  sail'd, 
My  name  was  Captain  Kidd,  God's  laws  I  did  forbid, 

And  so  wickedly  I  did,  when  I  sail'd. 

My  parents  taught  me  well,  when  I  sail'd,  when  I  sail'd, 

My  parents  taught  me  well,  when  I  sail'd, 
My  parents  taught  me  well  to  shun  the  gates  of  hell, 

But  against  them  I  rebell'd,  when  I  sail'd. 

I'd  a  bible  in  my  hand,  when  I  sail'd, 

I'd  a  bible  in  my  hand,  when  I  sail'd, 
I'd  a  bible  in  my  hand  by  my  father's  great  command, 

And  I  sunk  it  in  the  sand,  when  I  sail'd. 

Then,  after  narrating  two  cruel  murders  on  the  high  sea,  and  the  death  of 
the  mate,  who  called  him  to  his  bedside,  and  warned  him  of  the  great  day  of 
VOL.  I.  15 


338  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Bellamont,  by  his  urbanity  and  integrity,  became  greatly  esteemed 
and  beloved,  both  in  New  York  and  Boston.  In  the  former  place  he 
at  once  obtained  the  confidence  of  the  people,  by  acting  up  to  the 
promise  which  he  made  in  his  address  to  the  first  assembly  in  this 
mercantile  colony : — "  I  will  pocket  none  of  the  public  money  myself 
nor  shall  there  be  any  embezzlement  by  others ;  but  exact  accounts 
shall  be  given  you  when,  and  as  often  as,  you  require."  In  Boston  he 
took  the  direct  road  to  public  favour,  by  paying  attention  to  the  minis- 
ters and  popular  teachers ;  and  while  he  attended  the  episcopal 
church  on  Sundays,  he  was  constant,  and,  by  his  own  account,  an 
edified  attendant  of  the  weekly  lecture.  The  highest  salary  was  voted 
to  him  in  Boston  that  had  ever  been  given  to  the  governor ;  while  in 
New  York,  spite  of  his  controversies  with  the  merchants  regarding  the 
Navigation  Laws,  a  revenue  for  six  years  was  provided  for  him. 

Unfortunately,  death  soon  closed  the  administration  of  this  popular 
governor ;  and  after  about  a  year  of  violent  contentions  between  the 
Leisler  faction  and  the  opposite  party,  Lord  Cornbury  arrived  as 
governor  both  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  as  we  have  already 
mentioned.  Cornbury,  though  cousin  of  Queen  Anne,  was  a  needy 
and  unprincipled  man,  and  in  him  the  aristocratic  faction  immediately 
found  an  ally.  With  a  powerful  majority  in  the  assembly,  a  revenue 

reckoning  which  would  come,  the  ballad-writer,  in  the  person  of  Captain 
Kidd,  describes  his  short  repentance  and  long  career  of  wickedness  ;  how  he 
took  three  ships  from  France  and  three  from  Spain,  all  of  which  he  burned ; 
after  which  he  found  himself  possessed  of  "ninety  bars  of  gold  and  dollars 
manifold,"  but  finally  was  overtaken  by  fourteen  ships,  which  being  "too 
many  for  him,"  he  was  taken,  cast  into  prison,  and  condemned  to  die  He 
then  bids  a  pathetic  farewell  to  the  "  raging  main,  to  Turkey,  France  aud 
Spain,  which  he  ne'er  shall  see  again,"  and  concludes — 

To  Execution  Dock  I  must  go,  I  must  go, 

To  Execution  Dock  I  must  go, 
To  Execution  Dock  will  many  thousands  flock, 

But  I  must  bear  the  shock,  I  must  die. 

Take  warning  all  by  me,  for  I  must  die,  I  must  die, 

Take  warning  all  by  me,  for  I  must  die, 
Take  warning  now  by  me,  and  shun  bad  company, 

Lest  you  lose  your  souls  like  me,  for  I  must  die. 


(1703.)  COKNBURY'S  DUPLICITY  AND  PROFLIGACY.  339 

was  not  only  voted  him  for  seven  years,  but  £2,000  for  the  expense  of 
his  voyage,  and  his  salary  raised  to  £1,200  per  annum. 

In  April,  1703,  war  having  heen  proclaimed  in  England  against 
France  and  Spain,  the  assembly  met,  and  £1,500  was  appropriated  to 
fortify  the  Narrows,  it  being  strictly  provided  that  this  money  should 
bo  applied  to  no  other  purpose  whatever.  But  the  fortifications  were 
not  built,  and  Cornbury,  dishonest  as  he  was  extravagant,  made  use 
of  the  money  for  his  own  necessities ;  and  when  the  assembly,  the 
following  year,  expressed  their  displeasure  and  refused  to  make 
further  advances,  Lord  Cornbury  said,  "  I  know  of  no  rights  that  you 
have  as  an  assembly  but  such  as  the  queen  is  pleased  to  allow  you." 

So  zealous  was  Lord  Cornbury  for  the  episcopal  church,  that  he 
forbade  preachers  or  schoolmasters  to  exercise  their  vocations  without 
a  licence  from  the  bishop ;  he  commenced  also  to  persecute  dissenting 
missionaries,-but  was  obliged  to  desist  in  consequence  of  the  general 
indignation,  the  majority  of  the  people  being  themselves  dissenters. 
Twice  had  he  dissolved  the  assembly,  and  the  third  time  "proved 
only  how  rapidly  the  political  education  had  advanced  under  his 
administration.  Dutch,  English,  and  New  England  men  were  now 
all  of  one  spirit."  The  real  birth  of  liberty  in  the  popular  heart  was 
owing  to  the  abuses  and  follies  of  Lord  Cornbury.  For  some  time,  we 
are  informed,  he  endeavoured  to  maintain  his  authority  by  a  greater 
display  of  imperiousness ;  but  falling  deeply  into  debt,  he  suffered 
himself  to  be  humbled  by  the  assembly,  whose  rights  he  had  so 
haughtily  disputed,  and  became  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the 
people  by  parading  the  fort  in  the  dress  of  a  woman,  and  by  similar 
acts  of  folly. 

"  Disguised  alike  with  his  antics  and  his  knavery,  the  public  indig- 
nation at  length  vented  itself  in  clamorous  demands  for  his  recall, 
which  was  granted  in  1709,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Lord  Lovelace. 
No  sooner  was  Cornbury  divested  of  the  dignity  of  office,  than  his 
creditors  threw  him  into  prison,  from  which  he  was  only  released  by 
succeeding  to  the  earldom  of  Clarendon  on  the  death  of  his  father. 

Lord  Lovelace  found  the  assembly  much  wiser  from  the  vices  of 
Cornbury,  and  they  refused  to  advance  more  money  than  was  neces- 
sary for  the  annual  expenditure ;  but  all  conflict  on  this  or  any  other 
subject  was  spared  by  the  hand  of  death,  which  removed  the  new 


340  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

governor  within  a  few  weeks,  Ingoldsby,  the  lieutenant-governor, 
succeeded  him.  During  the  short  time  of  his  administration,  another 
attempt  was  made  by  New  York  and  the  New  England  provinces  to 
invade  Canada.  The  design  was  to  co-operate  with  the  British  fleet 
in  an  attack  on  Quebec,  and  troops  from  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island, 
and  New  Hampshire  assembled  at  Boston,  waiting  the  arrival  of  the 
squadron  ;  while  the  troops  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Connec- 
ticut, about  1,500  in  number,  marched  to  Wood  Creek,  near  the  head 
of  Lake  Champlain,  where  fortifications  were  erected  and  provisions 
stored.  The  British  fleet,  however,  was  despatched  to  the  aid  of 
Portugal  instead ;  and,  to  the  mortification  of  New  York,  which  had 
incurred  for  this  purpose  a  debt  of  £20,000,  the  levies  were  recalled 
and  disbanded.  Besides  the  regular  troops,  the  colony  had  enlisted 
600  Iroquois  warriors,  the  wives  and  children  of  whom,  amounting  to 
about  1,000,  they  had -undertaken  to  support  at  Albany.  For  this 
reason  New  York  refused  to  join  in  an  attack  upon  Acadia,  which  was 
soon  afterwards  made,  excusing  themselves  to  the  Queen  on  the  plea 
that  their  frontiers  were  left  undefended. 

The  following  year  Colonel  Schuyler  proceeded  to  England  to  urge 
upon  parliament  the  conquest  of  Canada,  accompanied  by  five  grand 
Mohawk  chiefs,  who  produced  a  vast  sensation  wherever  they 
appeared.  They  paraded  the  streets  of  London  dressed  in  black 
clothes,  over  which  they  flung  scarlet  mantles  trimmed  with  gold. 
On  the  19th  of  April  they  were  introduced  to  Queen  Anne,  when  one 
of  them,  having  referred  to  the  scheme  for  the  conquest  of  Canada, 
said : — 

"  We  were  mightily  pleased  when  we  heard  our  great  Queen  had 
resolved  to  send  an  army  to  conquer  Canada ;  and  immediately,  in  token 
of  friendship,  we  hong  up  the  kettle  and  took  up  the  hatchet,  and,  with  . 
one  consent,  assisted  Colonel  Nicholson  in  making  preparations  on 
this  side  the  lake ;  but  at  length  we  heard  that  our  great  Queen  was 
prevented  in  her  design  at  present,  which  made  us  sorrowful,  lest  the 
French,  who  had  hitherto  dreaded  us,  should  now  think  us  unable  to 
make  war  against  them.  The  reduction  of  Canada  is  of  great  weight 
to  our  free  hunting ;  so  that,  if  our  great  Queen  should  be  unmind- 
ful of  us,  we  must,  with  our  families,  forsake  our  country,  or  stand 
neuter,  either  of  which  would  be  against  us." 


(1710.)  HUNTER,  GOVERNOR  OF  NEW  YORK — GERMAN  EMIGRANTS.   341 

So  saying,  he  presented  belts  of  wampum,  in  proof  of  the  sincerity 
of  the  Five  Nations ;  and  having  received  a  gracious  reply  from  the 
Queen,  withdrew. 

In  June,  1710,  Robert  Hunter  arrived  in  New  York  as  governor. 
The  history  of  Hunter  is  striking.  A  native  of  Scotland,  he  was  in 
his  youth  apprenticed  to  an  apothecary,  but  running  away  from  his 
master,  he  enlisted  as  a  common  soldier.  Gifted  with  fine  talents  and 
address,  and  handsome  in  person,  he  became  the  friend  of  Swift  and 
Addison,  and  the  husband  of  Lady  Hay.  Military  promotion  fol- 
lowed his  marriage,  and  in  1707  the  appointment  of  lieutenant- 
governor  of  Virginia  was  conferred  upon  him.  On  his  voyage  to  that 
province  he  was  captured  by  the  French ;  and,  now  on  his  return  to 
England,  received  a  commission  as  governor  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey. 

Three  thousand  Germans,  who  had  been  driven  from  the  Palatine 
by  the  devastations  of  war,  and  taken  refuge  in  England,  accompanied 
the  new  governor.  Many  of  these  immigrants  settled  in  New  York ; 
others  on  the  Hudson,  on  the  manor  of  Livingstone ;  and  others  again 
in  Pennsylvania,  as  we  have  already  mentioned ;  and  there,  finding 
the  country  so  much  to  their  taste,  invited  their  friends  at  home  to 
follow  them,  who  accordingly  flocked  over  in  great  numbers. 

Hunter  soon  came  into  collision  with  the  assembly  on  financial 
questions.  The  people,  now  too  wise  not  to  keep  some  power  in  their 
own  hands,  made  the  post  anything  but  a  sinecure.  "  Here,"  writes 
the  governor  to  his  friends,  "  is  the  finest  air  to  live  upon  in  the 
universe ;  the  soil  bears  all  things,  but  not  for  me ;  for,  according 
to  the  custom  of  the  country,  the  sachems  are  the  poorest  of  the 
people."  And  again,  after  three  years'  experience,  "  I  am  used  like 
a  dog,  I  have  spent  three  years  in  such  torment  and  vexation,  that 
nothing  in  life  can  ever  make  amends  for  it." 

In  1637,  Andros,  governor  of  New  York,  appeared  in  Connecticut, 
and  under  the  commission  from  King  James,  appointing  him  governor 
of  all  New  England,  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  charter  from  the 
assembly  which  was  then  sitting.  This  unwelcome  demand  led  to 
a  long  discussion,  which  lasted  till  night,  when  the  court  was  thronged 
with  citizens.  All  at  once  the  lights  were  extinguished,  and  though 


342  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

the  utmost  decorum  was  preserved  under  this  extraordinary  occur- 
rence, yet  when  the  candles  were  re-lighted,  the  charter  was  nowhere 
to  be  found.  This  was  a  scheme  for  its  preservation.  It  was  secreted 
by  Captain  Wadsworth  in  a  hollow  tree,  which  is  still  standing,  and 
known  as  the  Charter  Oak.  Andros,  nevertheless,  assumed  the 
government  of  the  province,  which  he  held  till  the  Revolution. 

The  news  of  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  diffused  the  utmost 
joy  throughout  Connecticut.  An  address  of  the  most  loyal  and  scriptural 
character  was  sent  over ;  in  which,  however,  they  took  care  to  make 
known  that  their  acquiescence  to  the  rule  of  Andros  was  an  involun- 
tary submission  to  an  arbitrary  power,  and  that,  by  the  consent  of  the 
major  part  of  freemen,  they  had  resumed  the  government. 

The  administration  was  restored  by  the  royal  sanction.  "  They 
elected,"  says  Bancroft,  "  their  own  governor,  council,  and  assembly 
men,  all  their  magistrates,  and  that  annually.  The  government  of 
Connecticut  was  a  perfect  democracy.  It  rested  on  free  labour,  and 
upheld  equality ;  the  people  were  the  sources  of  all  power." 

During  the  war  which  followed  the  Restoration,  Colonel  Fletcher, 
governor  of  New  York,  was  empowered  by  his  commission  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  militia  of  Connecticut ;  but  this  was  resolutely  resisted. 
The  scene  is  curious  ;  and  again  we  find  that  brave  patriot,  Captain 
Wadsworth,  an  actor.  Fletcher  arrived  at  Hartford,  and  ordered  out 
the  troops.  The  troops,  with  Captain  Wadsworth  at  their  head, 
appeared.  Fletcher  ordered  his  commision  to  be  read  ;  Wadsworth 
ordered  the  drums  to  beat.  "  Silence ! "  shouted  Fletcher  ;  and  the 
drums  ceased.  Again  the  reading  of  the  commission  commenced, 
and  again  the  drums  beat  louder  than  ever.  Again  Fletcher  com- 
manded silence,  and  in  the  silence  which  ensued,  Wadsworth,  turn- 
ing to  Fletcher,  said,  with  great  emphasis,  "  If  we  are  interrupted 
again,  I  will  make  the  sun  shine  through  you'."  Again  the  drums 
beat,  and  Fletcher  made  no  further  attempt  to  command  the  Connec- 
ticut forces. 

We  have  already  related  how  Yale  College  was  founded  in  1700. 
Delegates  from  the  churches  of  Connecticut  met  at  Saybrookin  1708, 
and  framed  a  system  of  church  government  called  the  "  Saybrook 
Platform,"  which  obliged  all  the  clergy  of  the  state  to  meet  annually  in 
each  county  by  rotation,  for  the  consideration  of  ecclesiastical  affairs. 


(1700.)  RHODE    ISLAND,    AND   ITS   INSTITUTIONS.  343 

The  colonial  history  of  Connecticut  contains  from  this  time  no 
events  of  interest  apart  from  the  general  history  of  the  colonies.  The 
laws,  customs,  manners,  and  religious  opinions  were  similar  to  those 
prevalent  in  Massachusetts. 

Rhode  Island  submitted  without  opposition  to  the  authority  of 
Andros ;  but  when,  on  the  English  Revolution,  he  was  deposed  in 
Boston,  the  people  assembled  at  Newport  and  resumed  their  former 
chartered  privileges,  and  re-elected  the  very  officers  whom  Andros  had 
deposed. 

"  The  government  was  again  organised  on  a  free  basis,  and  the  old 
emblem  of  the  state— an  anchor  with  its  motto,  Hope — became 
significant  of  the  steadfast  zeal  and  spirit  with  which  Rhode  Island 
has  ever  cherished  religious  freedom  and  civil  rights."  "  Less  liberal, 
however,  than  Connecticut,"  says  Bancroft,  "  Rhode  Island  attached 
the  franchise  not  to  the  inhabitant  but  to  the  soil ;  and,  as  a  wrong 
principle  always  leads  to  a  practical  error,  it  fostered  family  pride 
and  a  distant  imitation  of  the  English  law  of  primogeniture." 


844  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE  FIRST  INTERCOLONIAL  WAR,  AND  THE  SALEM  WITCHCRAFT. 

THE  charter  of  Massachusetts  being  annulled  in  1685,  Joseph  Dudley 
was  appointed  president  over  the  country  from  Narragansett  to  Nova 
Scotia.  The  following  year  Sir  Edmund  Andros  arrived  at  Boston  as 
royal  governor  of  all  New  England.  Andros  was  not  only  unpopular, 
as  marking  by  his  governorship  the  epoch  of  the  loss  of  independence, 
but  still  more  so  from  the  arbitrary  character  of  his  proceedings ;  and 
as  an  evidence  of  the  feeling  of  the  colony,  it  refused  to  hold  the 
annual  thanksgiving  on  the  day  of  his  appointing.  He  was  called 
the  tyrant  of  New  England;  dnd  when,  early  in  the  year  1689,  the 
news  reached  Boston,  "by  way  of  Virginia,,  of  the  revolution  in 
England,  an  insurrection  immediately  took  place  for  his  deposition. 
Andros,  affecting  to  disbelieve  the  first  rumours  of  this  event, 
imprisoned  those  who  had  brought  them  to  the  city ;  and  then,  see- 
ing the  determined  spirit  of  the  people,  who  were  already  organised 
under  their  old  leaders,  fled  with  precipitation  to  Fort  Hill,  a  fortified 
stronghold  of  the  city.  Simon  Bradstreet,  now  eighty-seven  years  of 
age,  was  re-chosen  governor,  while  the  former  magistrates  and  some 
of  the  principal  inhabitants  formed  themselves  into  a  committee  of 
safety.  A  declaration  was  drawn  up  by  Cotton  Mather,  and  Andros 
summoned  to  surrender,  which  he  did  shortly  ;  when,  with  his  prin- 
cipal officers,  Dudley,  Randolph,  and  others,  he  was  sent  to  England ; 
and  William  and  Mary  having  been  joyfully  proclaimed,  the  former 
mode  of  government  was  "  temporarily "  resumed ;  and  Sir  Henry 
Ashurst  and  Increase  Mather,  father  of  Cotton  Mather,  with  two 
others,  hastened  to  England  as  agents  of  the  colony. 

William  was  so  much  occupied  in  establishing  himself  on  his  new 


(1689.)     ST.  CASTINE  EXCITES  THE  INDIANS  AGAINST  THE  BRITISH.      315 

throne,  tliat  Massachusetts  was  for  a  while  left  to  manage  her  own 
affairs.  In  the  meantime  she  was  busy  with  her  warfare  against 
Canada  and  the  French  Indian  allies.  In  July,  1689,  the  Pennicook 
Indians  in  New  Hampshire,  who  had  lost  several  of  their  number  by 
•the  treachery  of  the  whites,  were  instigated  by  the  Baron  de  St.  Cas- 
tine  to  take  vengeance  on  the  British  settlement  at  Dover  in  that 
state.  One  evening,  therefore,  two  Indian  squaws,  requesting  the 
hospitality  of  a  night's  lodging  in  the  house  of  the  venerable  Major 
Waldron,  a  magistrate  and  Indian  trader,  were  kindly  received  and 
allowed  to  sleep  by  the  fire.  In  the  dead  of  the  night  they  rose  and 
admitted  a  war-party,  who  at  once  filled  the  house.  The  old  magis- 
trate started  forward,  exclaiming,  "  What  now  ?  what  now  ? "  and 
defending  himself  with  a  drawn  sword,  was  stunned  by  a  blow  from 
a  hatchet.  Then  placing  him  in  mockery  at  the  head  of  a  long  table 
in  his  hall,  the  savage  intruders  bade  him  "judge  Indians  again ! "  and 
drawing  gashes  across  his  breast  with  their  knives,  said,  "  Thus  I 
cross  out  my  account ! "  till  at  length  he  died.  The  Indians  then 
burnt  his  house  and  others  that  stood  near,  and,  having  killed  twenty- 
three  persons,  carried  away  with  them  twenty-nine  prisoners. 

In  August  the  Jesuit  father  Thury,  having  established  "  a  per- 
petual rosary  "  in  the  chapel  of  the  Indian  village  of  Banibas,  a  hun- 
dred Indian  warriors,  "purified  by  confession,"  paddled  in  their 
birch-bark  canoes  from  the  Penobscot  towards  Pemaquid,  and  sur- 
prised the  settler  Thomas  Gyles,  who,  with  his  sons,  was  at  work  in 
his  fields  at  noontide,  getting  up  his  hay.  The  struggle  was  short ; 
the  wounded  father  asked  merely  leave  to  pray  for  his  children,  and 
then,  commending  them  to  God,  sank  beneath  the  hatchets  of  the 
impatient  Indians,  who  left  his  b6dy  in  the  field  covered  with  boughs. 
Hastening  to  Pemaquid,  they  took  it  after  two  days'  resistance,  and 
then,  carrying  away  many  prisoners,  returned  to  Penobscot. 

Alarmed  by  this  outrage,  commissioners  were  sent  from  New 
England  to  the  Mohawks  at  Albany,  asking  their  assistance.  "  We 
have  burnt  Montreal,"  returned  the  proud  warriors ;  "  we  are  allies  of 
the  English,  and  we  will  keep  the  chain  unbroken ; "  but  they  refused 
to  march  against  the  eastern  tribes,  from  whom  the  English  were 
now  suffering. 

We  have  related  already  how  a  party  of  combined  French  and 

15* 


346  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Indians  in  the  following  January  surprised  the  village  of  Schenectady. 
In  March,  a  party  from  Three  Rivers,  headed  hy  Hertelle,  consisting 
but  of  fifty-three  persons,  three  of  whom  were  his  sons  and  two 
his  nephews,  surprised  the  settlement  at  Salmon  Falls  on  the  Pisca- 
taqua,  and  after  a  bloody  encounter,  in  which  most  of  the  men 
of  the  settlement  were  killed,  burnt  the  place,  houses,  barns,  and 
cattle  in  their  stalls,  and  carried  away  fifty-four  prisoners,  mostly 
women  arid  children.  The  progress  of  the  march  was  marked  by 
outrage  and  murder.  A  more  direful  chronicle  does  not  exist ;  but 
we  will  not  relate  its  horrors. 

By  the  way,  Hertelle  met  with  another  party  from  Quebec,  which 
he  joined,  and  a  successful  attack  was  made  in  May  on  the  settlement 
of  Casco  Bay,  in  Maine. 

Massachusetts  was  roused,  and  an  expedition  was  hastily  fitted  out, 
under  the  command  of  Sir  William  Phipps,  against  Nova  Scotia. 
Sir  William  Phipps  was  a  native  of  Pemaquid,  one  of  twenty-six 
children  by  the  same  mother.     His  history,  as  one  of  the  early  "  self- 
made  men"  of  America,  is  interesting  and  instructive.     In  his  boy- 
hood he  kept  sheep ;  as  he  grew  older,  he  worked  as  a  ship- carpenter  ; 
then  he  was  a  sailor  ;  after  which  he  rose  to  be  a  ship-master.     He 
received  knighthood  from  the  hand  of  James  II.  in  consequence  of 
his  success  in  raising,  by  means  of  the  diving-bell,  the  buried  treasure 
of  an  old  Spanish  galleon,  on  the  coast  of  St.  Domingo,  which  pro- 
duced a  large  fortune  to  himself  and  several  noblemen  who  were 
partners  in  the  enterprise.     Thus  become  a  man  of  rank  and  conse- 
quence, he  returned  to  Boston,  and  now,  in  May  1690,  set  sail  against 
Acadia.     The  conquest  of  Port  Eoyal  was  easy,  and  the  plunder  of 
the  neighbouring  settlements  defrayed  the  expenses  of  the  expedi- 
tion.    This  success  determined  the  people  of  New  York  and  New 
England  to   combine  for  the  conquest  of  Canada.     An  armament 
destined  for  the  reduction  of  Quebec  was  placed  under  the  command 
of  Sir  William  Phipps,  and  the  land  troops  in  two  separate  bodies 
marched  to  Montreal ;  but  the  expedition  was  altogether  unsuccessful. 
Sir  William  was  compelled  to  return  from  before  Quebec,  and  of  the 
land  forces,  one  party  was  repulsed,  and  the  other  stopped  by  the  way, 
owing  to  small-pox  having  broken  out  among  them.     Canada  was 
triumphant,   and  the  event  was  celebrated  in  France  by  a  medal 


(1690.)      INDIAN  WARFARE — PRISONERS  SOLD  TO  THE  FRENCH.  347 

struck  for  the  occasion.  But  so  great,  it  is  said,  had  been  the  fear  of 
the  French  on  the  rumour  of  this  intended  invasion,  that  the  aged 
Frontenac  "  himself  placed  the  hatchet  .in  the  hands  of  his  allies,  and 
with  the  tomahawk  in  his  grasp  chanted  the  war-song  and  danced  the 
war-dance,"  to  inspire  them  with  the  frenzy  of  war. 

This  unfortunate  expedition  involved  Massachusetts  in  a  great 
amount  of  debt,  and  gave  rise  to  the  first  paper  money  in  the  British 
colonies,  though  "  card  money,"  as  we  have  said  before,  had  already 
been  made  use  of  by  Canada 

During  the  summer,  Colonel  Church,  so  famous  in  King  Philip's 
war,  led  a  party  against  the  eastern  tribes,  and  attacked  an  Indian 
settlement,  at  what  is  now  Lewistown,  where  he  burnt  the  corn  and 
killed  many,  not  sparing  women  and  children.  But  this  only  led  to 
retaliation,  which  the  Indians  understood  but  too  well.  Terror  and 
dismay  spread  through  all  the  frontier  settlements.  The  Indians  lay 
in  ambush,  and  the  ploughman  was  shot  in  the  furrow  by  the  unseen 
foe ;  it  was  necessary  to  go  armed  to  gather  in  the  crop  ;  every  house 
became  a  garrison  liable  to  attack  at  any  moment.  The  women  were 
taught  not  only  to  load  the  musket,  but  to  fire  it. 

Sometimes  the  Indians  killed  all  who  fell  into  their  hands,  but 
most  generally  their  object  was  to  make  prisoners,  especially  of  women 
and  children,  who  were  sold  as  servants  in  Canada.  These  unhappy 
captives,  in  their  long  and  dreary  travels  through  the  woods  in  mid- 
winter, often  with  infants  in  their  arms,  suffered  dreadfully,  not 
only  from  hunger  and  fatigue,  but  from  the  wanton  cruelty  of  their 
captors.  Arrived  in  Canada,  they  were  frequently  treated  with  great 
kindness  by  their  French  purchasers  ;  partly  from  humane  motives, 
but  more  commonly  from  a  desire  to  make  converts  of  them  to  the 
catholic  faith.  Many  who  returned,  related  that  this  was  one  of  their 
sorest  tria*ls  and  temptations.  Some  yielded ;  some  children,  captives 
among  the  Indians,  became  so  accustomed  to  the  wild  and  adventurous 
life  of  the  woods,  as  to  return  unwillingly  to  civilised  life  when  ran- 
somed.* 

Massachusetts  continued  to  be  governed  by  the  aged  Bradstreet 
until  1692,  when  the  king  refusing  to  confirm  the  restoration  of  the 

*  Hildreth. 


348  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

former  government,  granted  a  new  charter,  which  extended  tho 
limits  of  the  province,  hut  restricted  its  privileges.  Sir  "William 
Phipps,  who  had  heen  sent  over  to  England  to  solicit  aid  in  prose- 
cuting the  war  against  Canada,  as  well  as  to  second  the  other  envoys 
in  obtaining  the  restoration  of  the  charter,  was  returned  to  the  colony 
as  governor  under  this  new  charter,  which  emhraced  under  the  title 
of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  besides  the  former  territory  of 
Massachusetts,  Plymouth,  Maine,  and  Nova  Scotia.  Plymouth,  always 
anxious  for  a  separate  government,  was  thus,  contrary  to  her  wishes, 
joined  to  Massachusetts ;  and  New  Hampshire,  which  had  only  lately 
placed  herself  under  her  protection,  was  forcibly  dissevered,  and  that 
in  consequence  of  Mason's  claim  to  the  soil  having  been  purchased 
by  a  London  merchant  of  the  name  of  Allen,  who  appointed  as 
governor,  his  son-in-law,  Usher,  the  same  bookseller  and  merchant  of 
Boston  who  had  been  employed  to  purchase  Maine ;  and  hence  followed 
for  New  Hampshire  a  long,  uneasy  time  of  disputed  claims  and  lawsuits. 
Almost  the  only  privilege  which  the  new  charter  allowed  to  the 
people,  was  that  of  choosing  their  own  representatives.  The  king 
reserved  to  himself  the  right  of  appointing  a  governor,  lieutenant- 
governor,  and  secretary ;  and  of  repealing  all  laws  within  three  years 
of  their  passage.*  Toleration  was  secured  to  all  sects  excepting 
Roman  Catholics,  the  hatred  against  whom  was  greatly  increased  by 
the  cruelties  of  the  French  and  their  Indian  converts.  Increase 
Mather,  who,  unlike  his  colleagues,  had  yielded  to  the  force  of  cir- 
cumstances in  London,  and  accepted  the  charter  spite  of  its  curtail- 
ment of  liberties,  was  permitted  to  nominate  the  officers  to  be 
appointed  by  the  crown.  By  him  Sir  William  Phipps,  who  was  a 
member  of  Mather's  church,  was  named  as  governor,  and  Stoughton 
his  lieutenant. 

A  dark  and  awful  cloud  was  lowering  over  Massachusetts.  Not 
alone  had  she  to  deplore  the  ravages  of  her  frontiers  and  the  abridg- 
ment of  her  charter  privileges ;  a  new  and  direr  calamity  was  now 
falling  upon  her,  and  which,  like  so  many  of  her  other  sorrows  and 
all  her  mistakes,  was  mainly  attributable  to  her  spiritual  pride.  The 
belief  in  witchcraft  was  in  this  century  prevalent  in  all  Christian 

•  Mrs.  Willard. 


(1680.)  THE   WITCH   MANIA — MATHER   AND    HIS   BOOK.  349 

countries.  The  laws  of  England,  which  admitted  it  and  punished  it 
with  death,  had  been  adopted  in  .Massachusetts,  strengthened  by  the 
Scriptural  Judaic  command,  "  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live  ;" 
and  as  early  as  1645  the  mania  commenced,  several  persons  at  Boston 
and  other  towns  were  taken  up  and  tried,  and  one  individual  execu- 
ted, for  this  supposed  crime. 

"  Among  other  evidences,"  says  Hildreth,  "  of  a  departure  from  the 
ancient  landmarks,  and  of  the  propagation  even  in  New  England  of  a 
spirit  of  doubt,  were  the  growing  suspicions  of  the  reality  of  that 
every-day  supernaturalism  which  formed  so  prominent  a  feature  of 
the  puritan  theology.  Against  this  rising  incredulity,  Increase 
Mather  had,  in  1684,  published  a  book  of  '  Remarkable  Providences/ 
which  enumerated  and  testified  to  the  truth  of  all  the  supposed  cases 
of  witchcraft  which  had  occurred  in  New  England,  with  arguments 
to  prove  their  reality." 

As  the  sight  of  an  execution  for  murder  creates  in.  the  mind  of  the 
debased  a  morbid  passion  for  the  committal  of  the  crime,  so  did  the 
publication  of  this  work  soon  give  rise  to  a  supposed  case  of  witch- 
craft. A  house  at  Newbury  was  said  to  be  haunted  or  bewitched, 
and  the  wife  of  the  occupant,  a  wretched  old  woman,  was  accused  as 
a  witch.  Seventeen  people  came  forward  on  her  trial  to  charge  her 
with  misfortunes  which  had  happened  to  them  in  the  course  of  their 
lives,  and  but  for  the  firmness  and  good  sense  of  Simon  Bradstreet, 
and  the  abrogation  of  the  charter  which  just  then  took  place,  and 
gave  people  something  else  to  think  of,  she  would  have  been  executed 
on  the  charge. 

Mather,  however,  had  sown  seed  which  fell  into  fruitful  ground, 
and  in  due  course  sprang  up,  being  fostered  in  the  meantime  by  the 
re-publication,  in  Boston,  of  the  works  of  Richard  Baxter  and  the 
authority  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  In  1688,  therefore,  the  morbid 
imaginations  of  the  people,  already  predisposed,  being  excited  by  this 
mental  food,  cases  of  witchcraft  were  discovered.  The  four  children 
of  a  "  pious  family  "  in  Boston,  the  eldest  a  girl  of  thirteen,  began  to 
be  strangely  affected,  barking  like  dogs,  purring  like  cats,  being  at 
times  deaf,  dumb,  or  blind ;  having  their  limbs  distorted,  and  com- 
plaining of  being  pricked,  pinched,  pulled,  and  cut.  A  pious  minister 
was  called  in,  witchcraft  was  suspected,  and  an  old  Irish  woman,  an 


350  HISTORY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

indented  servant  of  the  family,  who  had  scolded  the  children  in  Irish 
because  her  daughter  was  accused  of  theft,  was  taken  up  on  the  charge. 
Five  ministers  held  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  and  the  old  woman 
was  tried,  found  guilty,  and  executed. 

"  Though  Increase  Mather,"  says  Hildreth,  "  was  ahsent,  he  had  a 
zealous  representative  in  his  son,  Cotton  Mather,  a  young  minister  of 
five-and-twenty,  a  prodigy  of  learning,  eloquence,  and  piety,  recently 
settled  as  colleague  with  his  father  over  Boston  North  Church. 
Cotton  Mather  had  an  extraordinaiy  memory,  stuffed  with  all  sorts 
of  learning.  His  application  was  equal  to  that  of  a  German  professor. 
His  lively  imagination,  trained  in  the  school  of  puritan  theology,  and 
nourished  on  the  traditionary  legends  of  New  England,  of  which  he 
was  a  voracious  and  indiscriminate  collector,  was  still  further  stimu- 
lated by  fasts,  vigils,  prayers,  and  meditations,  almost  equal  to  those 
of  any  catholic  saint.  Like  the  Jesuit  missionaries  of  Canada,  he  often 
believed  himself,  during  his  devotional  exercises,  to  have  direct  and 
personal  communication  with  the  Deity.  In  every  piece  of  good 
fortune  he  saw  an  answer  to  his  prayers ;  in  every  calamity  or  mortifi- 
cation, the  especial  personal  malice  of  the  devil  or  his  agents." 

In  order  to  study  these  cases  of  witchcraft  at  his  leisure,  Cotton 
Mather  took  one  of  the  bewitched  to  his  house,  and  the  devil  within 
her  flattered  his  religious  vanity  to  the  extreme.  He  preached  and 
prayed  on  the  subject,  calling  witchcraft  "  a  most  nefandous  treason 
against  the  Majesty  on  High,"  and  wrote  another  book  of  "  Memor- 
able Providences  relating  to  Witchcraft  and  Possession,"  in  which  he 
defied  the  modern  Sadducee  any  longer  to  doubt.  Four  ministers 
testified  to  the  unanswerable  arguments  which  he  thus  set  forth,  as 
did  also  Richard  Baxter  in  London. 

Public  attention  thus  turned  to  the  subject,  other  cases  of  the  same 
character  soon  occurred.  Two  young  girls  of  Salem,  the  daughter  and 
niece  of  Samuel  Parris  the  minister,  began  to  be  "  moved  by  strange 
caprices,"  and  being  pronounced  bewitched  by  a  physician  of  Boston, 
Tituba,  an  old  Indian  woman,  the  servant  of 'the  family,  was  suspected, 
principally  because  she  had  volunteered  to  discover  the  witch  by  some 
magical  rites.  Of  course  nothing  was  talked  of  but  these  girls ;  it  was 
quite  an  interesting  excitement ;  ministers  met  to  pray ;  the  whole 
town  of  Salem  fasted  and  prayed,  and  a  fast  was  ordered  throughout 


(1688.)   THE  SALEM  WITCHES — ABSURD  JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS.  351 

the  colony.  The  rage  for  notoriety,  or  the  effects  of  these  cases  on 
the  imagination  of  others  of  similarly  nervous  temperaments,  soon 
produced  their  results,  and  not  only  were  several  girls  affected  in  the 
same  way,  but  also  poor  old  John,  the  Indian  husband  of  Tituba. 

The  whole  of  Salem  was  agog,  and  the  magistrates  took  up  the 
matter  solemnly.  Accusations  spread ;  two  women,  the  one  crazy, 
the  other  bed-ridden,  were  suspected,  in  addition  to  the  others. 
Parris  preached  the  next  Sunday  on  the  subject,  and  the  sister  of  one 
of  the  accused  left  the  church,  which  was  enough  to  throw  suspicion 
upon  her.  The  deputy-governor  of  the  colony  came  to  Salem,  and  a 
great  court  was  held  in  the  meeting-house,  five  other  magistrates  and 
"a  great  crowd  being  present."  Parris  was  the  general  accuser. 
The  accused  were  held  with  their  arms  extended  and  their  hands  held 
open,  lest  by  the  least  motion  of  their  fingers  they  might  inflict 
torments  on  their  victims,  who  sometimes  appeared  to  be  struck  dumb 
or  knocked  down  by  the  mere  glance  of  their  eye. 

"  In  the  examinations  in  Salem  meeting-house,  some  very  extra- 
ordinary scenes  occurred.  « Look  there,'  cried  one  of  the  afflicted, 
'  there  is  Goody  Procter  on  the  beam.'  (This  Goody  Procter's 
husband,  firmly  protesting  the  innocence  of  his  wife,  had  attended  her 
to  the  court,  and,  in  consequence,  was  charged  by  some  of '  the  afflicted ' 
with  being  a  wizard) .  At  the  above  exclamation,  many  if  not  all  the 
bewitched  had  grievous  fits.  Question  by  the  Court :  '  Ann  Putnam, 
who  hurts  you?'  Answer:  'Goodman  Procter,  and  his  wife  too/ 
Then  some  of  the  afflicted  cry  out,  '  There  is  Procter  going  to  take  up 
Mrs.  Pope's  feet ;'  and  immediately  her  feet  are  taken  up.  Question 
by  the  Court :  '  "What  do  you  say,  Goodman  Procter,  to  these  things  ?' 
Answer:  ( I  know  not,  I  am  innocent!'  Abigail  Williams,  another 
of  the  afflicted,  cries  out,  '  There  is  Goodman  Procter  going  to  Mrs. 
Pope  ;'  and  immediately  the  said  Pope  falls  into  a  fit.  A  Magistrate 
to  Procter :  *  You  see  the  devil  will  deceive  you ;  the  children  (so  the 
afflicted  were  called)  could  see  what  you  were  going  to  do  before  the 
woman  was  hurt.  I  would  advise  you  to  repentance,  for  you  see  the 
devil  is  bringing  you  out ! '  Abigail  Williams  again  cries  out,  « There 
is  Goodman  Procter  going  to  hurt  Goody  Bibber ;'  and  immediately 
Bibber  falls  also  into  a  fit.  And  go  on.  But  it  was  on  evidence  such 


352  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

as  this  that  people  were  believed  to  be  witches,  and  were  hurried  to 
prison  and  tried  for  their  lives. 

"  Tituba  was  flogged  into  confession ;  others  yielded  to  a  pressure 
more  stringent  than  blows.  Weak  women,  astonished  at  the  charges 
and  contortions  of  their  accusers,  assured  that  they  themselves  were 
witches,  and  urged  to  confess  as  the  only  means  of  saving  their  lives, 
were  easily  prevailed  upon  to  admit  any  absurdities  :  journeys  through 
the  air  on  broomsticks,  to  attend  a  witch  sacrament— a  sort  of  travesty 
on  the  Christian  ordinance — at  which  the  deVil  appeared  in  the  shape 
of  a  '  small  black  man  ;'  signing  the  devil's  book ;  renouncing  their 
former  baptism,  and  being  baptized  anew  by  the  devil  in  '  Wenham 
Pond,'  after  the  Anabaptist  fashion.  Called  upon  to  tell  who  were 
present  at  these  sacrifices,  the  confessing  witches  wound  up  with 
new  accusations.  By  the  time  Phipps  arrived  in  the  colony,  near  a 
hundred  persons  were  already  in  prison.  Nor  was  the  mischief 
limited  to  Salem;  many  persons  were  accused  in  Andover,  Boston, 
and  other  towns."* 

Phipps  landed  on  the  14th  of  May;  on  the  16th  the  charter  was 
published,  and  he  installed  in  office.  On  the  2nd  of  June,  Stoughton 
was  sitting  as  chief  judge,  appointed  by  the  governor,  in  a  special 
court  at  Salem,  on  the  trial  of  a  poor  old  friendless  woman,  one 
Bridget  Bishop,  who  was  accused  by  Samuel  Parris ;  another  poor 
woman,  Deliverance  Hobbs  by  name,  among  other  things  was  accused, 
as  Cotton  Mather  relates,  "  of  giving  a  look  towards  the  great  and 
spacious  meeting-house  of  Salem,  and  immediately  a  demon,  invisibly 
entering  the  house,  tore  down  a  part  of  it."  She  protested  her  inno- 
cence, but  was  hanged  on  the  10th  of  June. 

Cotton  Mather  and  the  other  ministers  of  Boston  and  Charlestown 
were  loud  in  their  gratitude  and  praise  of  the  zealous  Phipps  and 
Stoughton,  and  the  accusations  and  trials  and  condemnations  pro- 
ceeded. It  was  a  chapter  out  of  the  history  of  the  middle  ages. 

It  remained  for  the  science  and  better  knowledge  of  the  present  day 

to  explain  these  witch  phenomena  according  to  psychological  and 

natural  laws.     At  that  time  they  were  believed  to  be  nothing  less 

than  the  work  of  the  devil,  and  as  such  were  punished.     "  We 

*  Hildreth, 


(1688.)  INCREASE    OF  THE   WITCH   MANIA.  353 

recommend,"  said  the  minister  of  that  stern  puritan  religion  which 
had  now  grown  rampant  in  severity,  "  the  speedy  and  rigorous  pro- 
secution of  such  as  have  rendered  themselves  ohnoxious ;"  and  the 
court  accordingly,  on  the  30th  of  June,  condemned  to  death  five 
women,  of  hlameless  lives,  all  protesting  their  innocence.  Of  these 
five,  Rebecca  Nurse,  whose  sister  had  left  the  church  while  Samuel 
Parris  was  preaching  a  violent  sermon  against  witches,  was  at  first 
acquitted  on  insufficient  evidence,  and  a  reprieve  was  granted  by 
Phipps.  But  Parris,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  a  virulent 
disposition,  could  not  bear  that  an  especial  object  of  his  hatred,  one 
against  whom  he  had  preached,  and  whom  he  had  denounced  from  the 
pulpit,  should  escape.  The  subservient  governor  recalled  the 
reprieve,  and  the  following  communion-day  she  was  taken  in  chains 
to  the  meeting-house,  excommunicated,  and  hanged  with  the  rest. 

The  frenzy  increased.  On  August  3rd,  six  more  were  arraigned ; 
and  John  Willard,  an  officer  who  had  been  employed  to  arrest  sus- 
pected persons,  declining  to  serve  any  longer,  was  accused  by  "  the 
afflicted," — afflicted  indeed ! — condemned  and  hanged.  Among  those 
who  suffered  with  Willard  was  Procter,  the  husband  of  Elizabeth 
Procter,  her  execution  having  been  delayed  on  account  of  her 
pregnancy.  He  had  truly  and  manfully  maintained  his  wife's 
innocer.ce,  and,  as  we  have  already  related,  been  himself  accused  ; 
others  witnessed  against  him  under  the  agony  of  torture,  and  he 
was  condemned.  He  was  a  man  of  firm  and  clear  character,  and 
petitioned  for  trial  in  Boston,  but  to  no  purpose.  The  behaviour 
and  execution  of  this  man  sank  deep  into  the  public  mind,  and 
offended  many.  Still  greater  was  the  effect  produced  by  the  execution 
of  George  Burroughs,  himself  a  minister,  who  was  accused  of  witch- 
craft because  he  denied  its  possibility.  He  was  formerly  the  minister 
at  Salem ;  afterwards  at  Saco,  whence  he  had  been  driven  by  the 
Indian  war  ;  and  was  now,  to  his  own  sorrow,  once  more  in  Salem, 
where  he  had  many  enemies.  Among  other  things  charged  against 
hfm  was  the  fact,  that  though  small  of  size,  he  was  remarkably  strong, 
whence  it  was  argued  that  his  strength  was  the  gift  of  the  devil. 
"  On  the  ladder,"  says  Bancroft,  "  he  cleared  his  innocence  by  an 
earnest  speech,  and  by  repeating  the  Lord's  Prayer  composedly 
and  exactly  with  a  fervency  that  astonished  all  who  heard  him. 


354  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Tears  flowed  to  the  eyes  of  many ;  it  seemed  as  if  the  spectators 
would  rise  up  to  hinder  the  execution.  Cotton  Mather,  on  horseback 
among  the  crowd,  addressed  the  people,  cavilling  at  the  ordination  of 
Burroughs  as  no  true  minister ;  insisting  on  his  guilt,  and  hinting 
that  the  devil  could  sometimes  assume  the  appearance  of  an  angel  of 
light ;  and  the  hanging  proceeded." 

On  September  9th,  six  women  were  found  guilty  and  condemned; 
and  a  few  days  later  again  eight  women  ;  while  Giles  Cory,  an  old 
man  of  eighty,  who  refused  to  plead,  was  pressed  to  death  —  a 
barbarous  usage  of  the  English  law,  which,  however,  was  never  again 
followed  in  the  colonies.  On  the  23rd  of  this  month,  the  afflicted  are 
stated  by  Hildreth  to  have  amounted  to  about  fifty ;  fifty-five  had 
confessed  themselves  witches  and  turned  accusers ;  twenty  persons 
had  already  suffered  death ;  eight  more  were  under  sentence.  The 
jails  were  full  of  prisoners,  and  new  accusations  were  added  every 
day.  Such  was  the  state  of  things  when  the  court  adjourned  to  the 
first  Monday  in  November.  The  interval  was  employed  by  Cotton 
Mather  in  preparing  his  "  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World,"  contain- 
ing a  triumphant  account  of  the  trials,  and  vaunting  the  good  offices 
of  the  late  executions,  which  he  considered  a  cause  of  pious  thankfulness 
to  God.  Although  the  president  of  Harvard  College  approved,  the 
governor  commended,  and  Stoughton  expressed  his  thanks  for  the 
work  of  Cotton  Mather,  yet  a  spirit  was  abroad  in  the  colony  and 
becoming  more  demonstrative  every  day,  which  was  very  adverse  both 
to  these  outrages  on  humanity  and  to  their  promoters. 

In  the  interim  between  the  last  executions  and  the  sitting  of  the 
adjourned  court,  the  representatives  of  the  people  assembled,  together 
with  the  church  of  Andover,  with  their  minister  at  their  head,  and 
protested  against  these  witch  trials :  "  We  know  not,"  said  they, 
"  who  can  think  himself  safe,  if  the  accusations  of  children  and  others 
under  a  diabolical  influence  shall  be  received  against  persons  of  good 
fame."  Very  truly  and  reasonably  did  they  say  so ;  for  even  now 
one  of  the  Andover  ministers  was  accused,  and  the  wife  of  the  mi- 
nister of  Beverley ;  and  when  the  son  of  old  Governor  Bradstrcet 
refused  as  a  magistrate  to  grant  any  more  warrants,  he  himself  was 
accused,  and  shortly  after  his  brother,  for  bewitching  a  dog ;  and 
both  were  obliged  to  flee  for  their  lives,  their  property  being  imme- 


(1688.)        PENN'S  JUDGMENT  IN  A  CASE  or  WITCHCRAFT.  355 

diately  seized.  And  more  than  this,  when  Lady  Phipps,  in  the 
absence  of  her  husband,  interfered  to  obtain  the  discharge  of  a  prisoner 
from  jail,  accusations  were  whispered  even  against  her! 

The  frenzy  of  delusion  becoming  weaker,  Cotton  Mather  wrote, 
and  circulated  in  manuscript,  the  account  of  a  case  of  witchcraft  in 
his  own  parish  in  Boston.  This  called  forth  a  reply  from  Robert 
Calef,  a  clear-headed,  fearless  man,  who,  by  the  weapons  of  reason 
and  ridicule,  overcame  and  put  to  flight,  in  an  astonishingly  short 
time,  both  witches  and  devils.  It  was  in  vain  that  Cotton  Mather 
denounced  him  as  "  a  coal  from  hell;"  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
went  with  him ;  and  though  a  circular  from  Harvard  College  signed 
by  the  president,  Increase  Mather,  solicited  from  all  the  ministers 
of  the  neighbourhood  a  return  of  the  apparitions,  possessions, 
enchantments,  and  all  extraordinary  things,  wherein  the  existence 
and  agency  of  the  invisible  world  is  more  sensibly  demonstrated,  the 
next  ten  years  produced  scarcely  five  returns.* 

The  invisible  world  was  indeed  becoming  really  so;  and  as  is  always 
the  case,  the  superstition,  when  it  ceased  to  be  credited,  lost  its  power 
of  delusion.  Cotton  Mather  and  his  party  were  too  self-righteous  to 
follow  the  example  of  William  Penn  and  the  Quakers  of  Penn- 
sylvania, or  they  might  soon  have  cleared  Massachusetts  of  its  witches. 
The  Swedes  who  emigrated  to  the  banks  of  the  Delaware  brought 
with  them  all  the  terrors  and  superstitions  which  the  wild  and 
gloomy  Scandinavian  mythology  had  engrafted  upon  Christianity,  and 
a  woman  was  accused  by  them  of  witchcraft  in  1684.  The  case  was 
brought  to  trial;  William  Penn  sat  as  judge ;  and  the  jury,  composed 
principally  of  Quakers,  found  the  woman  "  guilty  of  the  common  fame 
of  being  a  witch ;  but  not  guilty  as  she  stood  indicted."  No  notoriety 
could  be  obtained  by  witchcraft  in  Pennsylvania ;  it  furnished  the 
excitement  neither  of  preaching,  praying  nor  fasting;  and  the 
psychological  epidemic,  not  finding  there  a  moral  atmosphere  capable 
of  sustaining  it,  died  out.  There  were  no  more  cases  of  witchcraft 
in  Pennsylvania. 

Scarcely  was  this  fatal  delusion  at  an  end,  when  Boston  was  visited 
by  the  yellow  fever,  brought  there  by  troops  from  the  West  Indies  on 
their  way  to  co-operate  in  the  attack  on  Canada,  and  to  which  the 
*  Hildrcth 


856  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

recently  excited  state  of  the  public  mind  made  the  city  more  sus- 
ceptible. 

In  1694  Sir  "William  Phipps,  who  was  a  man  of  choleric  temper, 
having  got  into  dispute  with  the  royal  collector  at  Boston,  and  after- 
wards with  the  captain  of  a  man-of-war,  on  whom  he  inflicted  personal 
chastisement  and  then  committed  to  prison,  was  recalled  to  England  to 
account  for  his  conduct,  where  he  died  shortly  after  his  arrival.  The 
general  court  petitioned  parliament  that  he  might  not  be  removed. 
The  Earl  of  Bellamont  was  appointed  his  successor ;  but  his  arrival 
being  delayed,  Stoughton  administered  the  government  for  several 
years. 

The  treaty  which  had  been  made  with  the  eastern  Indians  at 
Pemaquid  had  not  remained  unbroken ;  during  the  awful  witch- 
delusion  the  horrors  of  Indian  warfare  were  renewed.  In  1694  a 
party  of  Indians,  again  instigated  by  the  Jesuit  Thury,  and  led  by 
French  officers,  surprised  the  settlement  at  Oyster  Bay,  now  Durham, 
and  killed  or  took  captive  about  100  of  the  inhabitants.  Port  Royal 
was  re-captured  by  Villebon ;  and  soon  after  the  whole  of  Acadia 
returned  to  its  ancient  allegiance. 

In  the  autumn  of  1696  the  fort  of  Pemaquid,  being  compelled  to 
surrender  to  a  mixed  force  of  French  and  Indians,  was  laid  in  ruins, 
and  the  neighbouring  country  devastated.  Colonel  Church,  on  the 
other  hand,  destroyed  Beau  Bassin,  a  French  settlement  on  the  Bay 
of  Fundy. 

Still  instigated  by  the  French,  who  excited  in  the  hearts  of  their 
Indian  allies  the  utmost  hatred  of  the  English,  the  remoter  territory 
of  Massachusetts  was  overrun  by  them,  and  early  in  1697  they 
advanced  as  far  as  the  towns  of  Andover  and  Haverhill,  to  within 
twenty-five  miles  of  Boston,  killing  many  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
carrying  others  into  captivity. 

We  must  be  permitted  to  give  here  an  incident  from  this  terrible 
frontier  life,  which  will  serve  to  show  the  horrors  of  the  time  and  the 
spirit  of  the  frontier  settler.  On  March  15th,  1697,  a  party  of 
Indians  came  to  Haverhill,  and  began  to  burn  and  slay  as  usual,  and 
so  reached  the  house  of  Hannah  Dustan,  who  had  been  confined 
about  a  week,  and  was  there  with  her  nurse,  Mary  Neff.  Her  hus- 
band, who  was  at  work  in  the  distant  fields  with  their  eight  children, 


(1G97.)  INDIAN   OUTRAGE    AT   HAVERHILL.  357 

hurried  home  with  his  loaded  gun  for  her  defence.  But  the  Indians 
were  on  his  threshold ;  and  he,  with  his  eight  children,  was  in  a  strait 
what  to  do ;  whether  to  rush  to  the  rescue  of  his  wife  and  leave  the 
children,  or  secure  their  safety  and  leave  his  wife  and  home  to  the 
care  of  Providence.  The  Indians  came  up  to  him  also,  but  he  fired, 
and  bidding  his  children  flee,  kept  them  before  him,  until  he  had 
reached  a  place  of  safety,  about  two  miles  off;  here  leaving  the 
children,  he  returned  to  his  home,  which  by  this  time  was  a  heap  of 
burning  ruins.  The  Indians,  having  entered  the  house,  compelled  the 
mother  and  her  infant  to  rise  and  prepare  to  accompany  them, 
together  with  the  nurse  and  about  half  a  score  other  English  captives. 
The  brains  of  the  infant  were  dashed  out  against  a  tree,  that  the  care 
of  it  might  not  impede  the  progress  of  the  mother.  For  many  days 
they  were  driven  on  by  their  savage  captors,  until  they  were  about 
150  miles  up  the  wilderness  country.  "  The  good  God,"  says  Cotton 
Mather,  wh.o  relates  this  circumstance,  "  heard  the  sighs  of  the  pri- 
soners, and  gave  them,  favour  in  the  eyes  of  their  enemies."  The 
Indians  were  converts  of  the  French  Jesuits,  and  very  zealous  in  their 
devotions,  in  which  they  would  have  compelled  the  women  to  join, 
ever  threatening  them,  as  they  went  along,  with  having  to  run  the 
gauntlet  in  the  Indian  village  to  which  they  were  bound.  With  the 
two  women  was  a  boy  from  Worcester,  Samuel  Leonardson  by  name, 
and  they  three  planned  a  scheme  of  escape.  The  boy,  conversing 
with  his  Indian  master,  inquired  how  the  Indian  smote  when  he 
intended  instant  death ;  the  savage  warrior  instructed  him.  Accord- 
ingly, one  night,  when  the  Indians  were  soundly  asleep,  the  women 
and  the  boy  arose,  each  armed  with  a  tomahawk,  and  smote  as  the 
Indian  had  taught  them.  Ten  out  of  the  twelve  who  occupied  the  wig- 
wam were  slain  ;  the  other  two,  a  boy  and  a  squaw,  escaped.  After 
this,  embarking  in  a  birchen  canoe  on  the  Merrimac  which  they  had 
followed,  the  three,  with  the  ten  scalps  in  a  bag,  and  their  tomahawks 
as  trophies,  arrived  at  the  English  settlements,  where  they  were 
received  by  their  friends  as  persons  returned  from  the  dead ;  and  £50 
was  voted  to  them  by  the  General  Assembly,  while  the  whole  colony 
rang  with  the  fame  of  their  adventure. 
The  peace  of  Ryswick  caused  a  temporary  cessation  of  hostilities 


358  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  the  restoration  to  each  party  of  the  conquests  which  the  other 
had  made. 

Peace  being  established  in  England,  government  had  now  leisure 
to  pay  a  little  attention  to  the  colonies,  and  that  attention,  of  course, 
was  not  of  the  most  agreeable  kind.  In  answer  to  the  reiterated 
complaints  of  the  English  merchants,  of  the  violation  of  the  Acts  of 
Trade,  and  especially  of  direct  intercourse  being  carried  on  between 
the  colonies  and  Scotland  and  Ireland,  the  Board  of  Trade  and  Plan- 
tations was  established,  which  continued  a  rigid  and  jealous  oversight 
of  the  American  colonies  until  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution. 
All  direct  trade  between  Ireland  and  the  colonies  was  now  strictly 
prohibited,  on  the  plea  that,  if  any  trade  were  at  all  permitted  with 
this  unfortunate  island,  which  was  just  then  smarting  under  the 
inflictions  of  the  late  war,  it  would  be  a  cover  for  the  smuggling  of 
colonial  produce,  known  under  the  term  "  enumerated  articles."  The 
number  of  revenue  officers  was  increased,  and  the  unpopular  Randolph 
was  appointed  surveyor-general,  and  placed  at  their  head. 

In  1699  the  Earl  of  Bellamont  arrived  in  Boston  from  New  York. 
How  popular  he  made  himself,  we  have  already  related.  Bellamont 
was  the  first  governor  who  opened  the  General  Assembly  by  a  formal 
speech,  and  from  his  time  it  has  been  continued. 

"  Neither  Usher,  the  lieutenant-governor  of  New  Hampshire,  who 
fled  to  Boston  in  alarm  for  his  life ;  nor  his  successor,  Partridge,  who, 
being  a  ship-carpenter,  had  the  merit  of  introducing  into  that  province 
a  profitable  timber-trade  to  Portugal ;  nor  the  proprietary,  Allen,  who 
presently  assumed  the  government,  were  more  successful  than  Cran- 
field  had  been  in  extorting  quit-rents  from  the  settlers  of  that  sturdy 
little  province.  And  New  Hampshire,  now  included  under  Bella- 
mont's  commission,  continued  for  the  next  forty  years  to  have  the 
same  governors  as  Massachusetts,  though  generally  a  lieutenant- 
governor  was  at  the  head  of  the  administration."  * 

On  the  death  of  Lord  Bellamont,  Massachusetts  had  the  mortifi- 
cation of  receiving  the  "  apostate  "  Joseph  Dudley,  the  friend  of  the 
hated  Andros,  as  governor,  he  having  obtained  the  appointment 

*  Hildreth. 


(1699.)  RIGID    JUDICIAL   CODE    OF    MASSACHUSETTS.  351) 

through  the  influence  of  Cotton  Mather.  The  popular  party,  they 
who  had  opposed  the  tyranny  of  Andros,  now  set  themselves  in 
opposition  to  the  new  governor,  and  refused  to  comply  with  the  royal 
instructions,  which  required  them  to  fix  permanently  the  salaries  of 
the  governor  and  crown  officers. 

Although  "  a  spirit  of  latitudinarianism  "  was  gradually  narrowing 
the  hounds  of  the  theocratic  power  in  Massachusetts,  still  her  code 
retained  most  of  its  rigid  enactments.  It  was  still  forbidden  "to 
travel,  work,  or  play,  on  the  Sabbath ;"  and  constables  and  tithing- 
men  were  commanded  to  "prevent  all  persons  from  swimming  in  the 
waters ;  all  unnecessary  and  unreasonable  walking  in  the  streets  or 
fields ;  keeping  open  of  shops,  or  following  secular  occasions  or  recrea- 
tions on  the  evening  preceding  the  Lord's-day,  or  on  any  part  of  the 
day  or  evening  following." 

Atheism  and  blasphemy,  under  which  was  included  the  denying 
that  any  of  the  canonical  books  of  Scripture  were  the  inspired  word 
of  God,  were  punished  with  six  months'  imprisonment ;  setting  in  the 
pillory ;  whipping ;  boring  through  the  tongue  with  a  red-hot  iron ; 
sitting  on  the  gallows  with  a  rope  round  the  neck ;  or  any  two  of 
these  punishments,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court.  Adultery  was 
punished  by  the  guilty  parties  being  set  on  the  gallows  with  a  rope 
round  their  necks,  and  on  their  way  thence  to  the  jail,  to  be  severely 
flogged,  not  exceeding  forty  stripes;  and  ever  after  to  wear  the 
capital  letter  A,  of  two  inches  long,  cut  out  of  cloth  of  a  contrary 
colour  to  their  clothes,  and  sewed  upon  their  upper  garments  on  the 
outside  of  their  arm  or  on  their  back  in  public  view,  and  if  caught 
without  this,  to  be  liable  to  fifteen  stripes.* 

This  extraordinary  mode  of  punishment  has,  it  will  be  remembered 
by  our  readers,  furnished  the  subject  for  one  of  Nathaniel  Hawthorne's 
fine  and  graphic  stories,  "  The  Scarlet  Letter." 

*  Hildreth. 


360  HiSTOttY    01'   THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XXVI. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  LOUISIANA.— QUEEN  ANNE'S  WAK. 

THE  Peace  of  Eyswick  restored  to  France  all  the  places  on  Hudson's 
Bay  of  which  she  had  possession  at  the  commencement  of  the  war. 
"With  the  exception  of  the  eastern  portion  of  Newfoundland,  she 
retained  the  whole  line  of  coast,  with  the  adjacent  islands,  from  Maine 
to  beyond  Labrador  and  Hudson's  Bay,  besides  Canada  and  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi ;  the  boundaries,  however,  not  being  denned, 
remained  subjects  of  dispute.  The  boundary  between  New  France 
and -New  York  was  especially  difficult  of  adjustment,  each  nation 
claiming  the  extensive  intervening  territory  occupied  by  the  Five 
Nations. 

In  the  year  1700,  the  jealousy  of  the  Five  Nations  having  been 
excited  by  the  claim  of  Bellamont  to  build  forts  in  their  territory, 
they  began  to  suspect  the  British  intentions  towards  them;  and 
Callieres,  the  successor  of  Frontenac  in  Canada,  taking  advantage 
of  their  state  of  feeling,  offered  them  either  peace  with  the  French, 
or  a  war  of  extermination.  They  chose  the  former,  and  sent  envoys 
to  Montreal,  "  to  weep,"  according  to  their  phraseology,  "  for  the 
French  who  had  died  in  the  war."  A  grand  treaty  of  peace  was  for- 
mally signed  between  the  French  and  their  Christianised  Indian 
allies,  and  these  their  ancient,  formidable  enemies — each  nation  testi- 
fying its  solemn  assent  by  its  symbol,  that  of  the  Senecas  and 
Onondagas  being  a  spider ;  the  Cayugas  a  calumet ;  the  Oneidas  a 
forked  stick ;  the  Mohawks  a  bear ;  the  Hurons  a  beaver ;  the  Abena- 
kis  a  deer ;  and  the  Ottawas  a  hare.  Peace  was  also  established 
between  the  French  allies  and  the  Sioux,  which  was  to  extend 
beyond  the  Mississippi.  The  hold  which  the  French  had  upon  these 


(1698.)  LEMOINE  D'IBEEVILLE'S  EXPEDITION.  361 

nations  being  through  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  a  law  was  passed  the 
same  year  in  New  York  for  the  "  hanging  of  every  Popish  priest  who 
should  voluntarily  enter  the  province." 

Peace  heing  established  with  England,  the  French,  in  1698, 
renewed  their  endeavours,  which  the  war  had  interrupted,  to  plant  a 
settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi ;  and  Lemoine  D'Iberville, 
who  had  already  signalised  himself  on  the  shores  of  Hudson's  Bay 
and  Newfoundland,  was  selected  for  the  enterprise.  By  birth  he  was 
a  Canadian,  one  of  the  seven  sons  of  Charles  Lemoine,  an  early  emi- 
grant from  Normandy ;  and  with  his  two  brothers,  Sauvolle  and 
Bienville,  and  200  colonists  and  a  few  women  and  children,  in  two 
frigates  and  two  tenders,  D'Iberville  sailed  for  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, which,  as  yet,  had  never  been  entered  from  the  sea. 

Unlike  the  enterprise  of  La  Salle,  good  fortune  attended  that  of 
Lemoine  D'Iberville  from  the  commencement.  Cordially  and  honour- 
ably received  by  the  governor  of  St.  Domingo,  his  expedition  was 
there  increased  by  a  larger  vessel,  and  in  January,  1699,  he  anchored 
in  the  Bay  of  Pensacola ;  but  his  lauding  was  forbidden  by  a  fort 
erected  here  by  Spaniards,  lately  come  from  Vera  Cruz,  and  under 
the  guns  of  which  lay  two  Spanish  ships.  Spain  still  claimed  the 
whole  range  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Sailing  westward,  D'Iberville  cast  anchor  south-east  of  Mobile,  and 
landed  February  2nd  on  Ship  Island,  where,  the  larger  vessel  having 
returned  to  St.  Domingo,  the  people  erected  huts  while  he  explored 
the  opposite  shore,  the  Bay  of  Biloxi,  and  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Pascagoula.  On  the  27th  of  the  same  month,  D'Iberville,  his  brother 
Bienville,  forty-eight  men,  and  Athanase,  a  Franciscan,  who  had  been 
one  of  the  companions  of  the  unfortunate  La  Salle,  set  forth  in  search 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  Floating  trees  and  muddy  waters 
led  them  to  the  obscure  outlet  of  the  great  Father  of  Rivers,  which 
they  ascended  to  a  village  of  the  Bayagoulas,  a  tribe  occupying  the 
western  bank,  just  below  Red  River,  and  with  whom  was  found  to  be 
faithfully  preserved  that  letter  written  by  Tonti,  and  committed  to 
their  care  in  1684;  which  circumstance  was  the  joyful  assurance  to 
them  that  they  had  found  the  Mississippi.* 

Returning  from  this  point,  D'Iberville,  quitting  the  great  river 

*  Bancroft. 
VOL.  L  16 


862  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

by  the  Manshac  Pass  to  the  eastward,  sailed  through  the  Lakes 
Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain,  so  called  from  two  of  the  French 
ministers,  and  arrived  safely  at  Ship  Island.  Preferring  the  shores 
of  the  Bay  of  Biloxi  to  the  low  lands  of  the  Mississippi,  a  fort  was 
erected  there,  the  four  bastions  and  twelve  cannon  of  which  were  to 
maintain  the  French  authority  over  the  territory,  extending  from 
about  the  Rio  del  Norte  to  the  confines  of  Pensacola ;  after  which, 
D'Iberville  set  sail  for  France,  leaving  his  brothers  Sauvolle  and 
Bienville  in  command  of  the  fort,  around  which  the  huts  of  the 
settlers  had  clustered. 

Though  the  fear  of  Spanish  interference  with  this  first  French 
settlement  in  Mississippi  was  soon  removed  by  the  transfer  of  the 
Spanish  throne  to  a  branch  of  the  Bourbons,  still  no  great  success 
could  be  looked  for  •  the  soil  was  arid  sand,  and  the  heat  of  the  burning 
sun  made  the  settlers  remember  with  longing  the  invigorating  climate  of 
Canada.  Nevertheless  their  settlement  was  not  without  its  agreeable 
circumstances,  among  which  were  the  visits  of  missionaries  from  their 
stations  among  remote  tribes,  and  who,  floating  down  the  great  river 
in  their  birch-bark  canoes,  came  to  visit  them.  "  Already,"  says 
Bancroft,  "  a  line  of  communication  existed  between  Quebec  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  boundless  southern  region,  made  a  part  of  the 
French  empire  by  lilies  carved  on  the  trees  and  crosses  erected  on 
the  bluffs,  and  occupied  by  French  missionaries  and  forest  rangers, 
was  annexed  to  the  command  of  the  governor  of  Biloxi." 

A  hundred  settlers,  with  a  missionary  at  their  head,  bad  already 
established  themselves  upon  that  beautiful  strait  between  Lakes  Erie 
and  St.  Clair  which  La  Salle,  on  his  first  journey,  had  marked  out  as 
an  advantageous  post.  A  fort  was  built,  and  Detroit  became  a  flourish- 
ing settlement,  as  did  also  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  two  missionary 
stations  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Mississippi.  The  ambition  of 
forming  a  vast  and  powerful  French  American  empire  was  now 
becoming  stronger  even  than  the  idea  of  a  Jesuit  Theocracy. 

Whilst  the  little  settlement  was  establishing  itself  at  Biloxi,  a 
scheme  was  formed  in  London  to  claim  for  England  the  territory 
granted  in  1630,  to  Robert  Heath,  under  the  name  of  Carolana. 
William  III.  had  taken  Father  Hennepin  into  his  pay,  who  now  pre- 
tended to  have  been  the  first  who  descended  the  Mississippi.  He 


(1700.)  ENGLISH   EXPEDITION THE    "ENGLISH   TURN."  363 

had  lately  published  his  narrative  in  London,  and  added  to  his  former 
account  that  of  his  pretended  voyage.  On  the  plea,  therefore,  of 
this  priority  of  claim,  an  English  expedition  was  fitted  out  under 
Coxe,  a  physician  of  London  and  a  proprietary  of  New  Jersey,  who 
had  bought  up  the  old  patent  of  Carolana,  and  now,  with  two 
armed  English  vessels,  set  out  to  explore  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. Bienville,  who  had  been  intrusted  by  his  brother  D'Iberville 
to  pursue  the  exploration  of  the  country,  was  on  his  return  to  Biloxi, 
about  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  river,  when,  to  his  great 
surprise,  meeting  one  of  Coxe's  vessels,  he  resorted  to  an  expedient 
which  soon  removed  the  intruder.  He  pretended  that  this  river  was 
not  the  Mississippi,  and  that  the  country  was  under  the  French 
supremacy,  on  which  the  English  captain,  instantly  turning  his  ships 
about,  hastened  back.  The  reach  of  the  river  where  this  occurrence  took 
place  is  called  the  English  Turn  to  this  day.  Thus  ended  the  English 
attempt  to  establish  a  claim  to  the  old  Carolana ;  and  though 
William  III.  declared  that  he  would  leap  over  "  twenty  stumbling- 
blocks  rather  than  not  effect  it,"  England  never  gained  any  perma- 
nent establishment  on  the  Mississippi. 

Coxe's  vessels  had  brought  out  a  number  of  French  Huguenot  emi- 
grants, who  were  landed  in  Carolina ;  and  these  soon  after  desiring 
to  remove  to  Louisiana,  where  their  nationality  might  be  preserved, 
wrote  to  Sauvolle  for  this  purpose.  Sauvolle  communicated  with  the 
French  government,  asking  merely,  on  their  behalf,  liberty  of  con- 
science. The  reply  of  the  king  was  characteristic :  "  He  had  not 
driven  Protestants  from  France  to  make  a  republic  of  them  in 
America." 

D'Iberville  returned  towards  the  end  of  the  year  with  sixty  Cana- 
dians, and  early  the  following,  set  out  to  select  a  situation  for  a  new 
settlement.  While  building  a  fort  about  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  he  was  visited  by  the  aged  Tonti,  the  former  companion 
of  La  Salle,  who  had  come  down  the  Illinois  with  seven  attendants 
for  that  purpose.  D'Iberville  and  his  brother  Bienville,  in  company 
with  Tonti,  now  ascended  the  Great  River  as  far  as  the  country 
occupied  by  the  Natchez,  by  whom  they  were  well  received ;  and 
here,  upon  a  high  bluff,  a  settlement  was  marked  out  under  the 
name  of  Rosalie,  now  called  Natchez. 


364  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES, 

In  May,  D'Iberville  again  returned  to  France,  and  Bienville,  pur- 
suing his  explorations,  crossed  the  Red  River  to  Natchitoches.  Gold 
and  mineral  wealth  were  again  the  great  ohjects  of  search,  but  nothing 
was  met  with  save  swampy  forests  and  dismal  solitudes  ;  nor  could 
any  report  of  gold  be  obtained  from  the  natives.  La  Sueur,  in  pur- 
suit of  this  bootless  quest,  spent  the  summer  and  autumn  of  the  same 
year  in  ascending  the  Mississippi  as  far  as  the  falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
and  then  entering  the  St.  Peter's,  reached  the  prairies  of  Missouri, 
and  spent  the  winter  among  the  Towas,  that  he  might  in  spring  take 
possession  of  a  copper  mine. 

The  settlers  of  Biloxi,  mere  hireling  adventurers,  were  not  the  men 
to  weather  through  the  early  hardships  of  a  colony.     Whilst  France 
was  urging  them  to  search  for  the  precious  metals,  the  fevers  incident 
to  such  a  soil  and  climate  were  sweeping  them  rapidly  away.  Sauvolle 
was  an  early  victim ;  and  the  command  then  fell  upon  the  young  and 
adventurous  Bienville.    When  D'Iberville  returned  from  France  in 
1703,  he  found  but  150  alive,  and  soon  after  the  colony  was  removed 
to  the  western  bank  of  the  Mobile  ;  and  this,  the  first  European  set- 
tlement in  the  present  state  of  Alabama,  continued  to  be  the  head- 
quarters of  the  colony  for  the  next  twenty  years.      D'Iberville, 
attacked  soon  after  by  yellow  fever,  escaped  narrowly  with  his  life  to 
France,  and  died  at  Havanna  in  1706.     "  When  he  left  Louisiana,  it 
was  little  more  than  a  wilderness,  containing  about  thirty  families. 
The  colonists  were  unwise  in  their  objects.     Their  scanty  number  was 
scattered  on   discoveries,  or  among  the   Indians  in  quest  of  furs. 
There  was  no  quiet  agricultural  industry.     The  coast  of  Biloxi  was 
sandy  as  the  deserts  of  Lybia ;  the  fort  on  the  delta  of  the  Mississippi 
was  at  the  mercy  of  the  rising  waters ;  and  the  buzzing  and  sting  of 
musquitoes,  the  hissing  of  the  snakes,  the  croaking  of  the  frogs,  the 
cries  of  alligators,  seemed  to  claim  the  country  still  as  the  inheritance 
of  reptiles ;  whilst,  at  Mobile,  the  sighing  of  the  pines  and  the  hope- 
less character  of  the  barrens  warned  the  emigrants  to  seek  homes 
more  inland."* 

As  regards  the  condition  of  the  American  provinces  belonging  to 
the  once  powerful  Spain,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  state  that  they  shared 
in  a  great  measure  the  condition  of  the  parent-country.     Spain,  had 
*  "Bancroft. 


(1700.)    WILLIAM  III.  DECLARES  WAR  AGAINST  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN.    365 

now  no  navy,  and  "  foreigners,  by  means  of  loans  and  mortgages, 
gained  more  than  seven-eighths  of  the  wealth  from  America,  and  fur- 
nished more  than  nine-tenths  of  the  merchandise  shipped  for  the 
colonies.  Spanish  commerce  and  manufactures  had  almost  ceased  to 
exist ;  and  its  dynasty  had  become  extinct."  A  Bourbon  was  on  the 
throne,  and  the  liberties  of  the  Netherlands  being  endangered,  "Wil- 
liam III.  declared  war  both  against  France  and  Spain. 

In  the  war  which  commenced-  with  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
English  colonists  had  for  enemies,  not  alone  the  French  of  Canada, 
but  the  Spaniards  of  Florida  also.  The  Spanish  settlements  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  St.  Augustine  were  not  very  extensive,  it  is  true  ; 
and  that  of  Pensacola  was  of  later  date.  The  tribes  of  Appalachees, 
inhabiting  what  is  now  called  Middle  Florida,  and  who  had  received 
some  rudiments  of  civilisation  from  Spanish  missionaries,  were 
employed  in  agriculture,  and  as  herdsmen.  The  powerful  tribes  of 
the  confederated  Creek  Indians  occupied  the  territory  south  and  south- 
west of  the  Savannah  and  the  Alleganies,  bordering  on  the  English 
settlements  of  South  Carolina,  and  forming  now  the  State  of  Georgia. 
The  country  south-west  of  the  Alleganies  was  occupied  by  the  equally 
formidable  Cherokees,  who  claimed  as  their  hunting-ground  the 
whole  country  as  far  as  the  Kenhawa  and  the  Ohio ;  between  these 
and  the  English  settlements  of  the  two  Carolinas,  was  the  territory  of 
Yamasees,  the  Catawbas,  and  the  Tuscaroras. 

The  governor  of  South  Carolina  at  this  time  was  James  Moore, 
successor  to  Joseph  Blake,  "  a  needy  and  ambitious  man,"  who  had 
enriched  himself  by  kidnapping  Indians  and  selling  them  as  slaves. 
The  hope  of  Indian  and  Spanish  captives  induced  this  man,  as  soon 
as  the  news  of  the  war  reached  Carolina,  to  undertake  an  expedition 
against  St.  Augustine.  The  town  was  very  soon  taken,  but  the  gar- 
rison retired  to  the  fort,  which  was  strong  and  well  built ;  and  before 
this  could  be  attacked  the  assailants  had  to  send  for  heavy  artillery 
from  Jamaica.  In  the  meantime  an  Indian  runner  was  sent  with  the 
tidings  to  Bienville  at  Mobile,  who  communicated  the  intelligence  to 
the  Spanish  viceroy  at  Havanna,  and  two  Spanish  ships  of  war  were 
immediately  despatched  to  St.  Augustine,  at  the  sight  of  which 
Moore  abandoned  his  vessels  and  fled  by  land.  This  expedition 


366  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

burdened  Carolina  with  debt,  and  caused  the  issue  of  her  first  paper 
money. 

Again,  at  the  close  of  1705,  Moore,  at  the  head  of  fifty  white 
volunteers  and  about  1,000  Indian  allies  of  the  Creek  nation,  marched 
through  the  forests  which  De  Soto  had  traversed,  and  surprised  the 
settlements  near  St.  Mark's,  where,  surrounded  by  their  herds  of 
cattle,  the  semi-civilised  Indians  lived  in  peaceful  allegiance  to  the 
Spanish.  It  was  the  middle  of  'December,  when  the  unexpected 
invaders  came  down  upon  the  quiet  villagers  ;  and  though  they  could 
not  take  the  fort,  they  plundered  the  villages,  burning  and  robbing 
the  churches.  A  barefoot  friar,  the  only  white  man,  came  forward  to 
beg  for  mercy  ;  but  about  100  women  and  children,  and  fifty  warriors 
were  seized  as  slaves.  The  fort,  however,  could  not  be  taken,  and 
the  Indian  chief  purchased  peace  with  the  plate  of  his  church  and  ten 
horse-loads  of  provisions.  Two  thousand  of  these  Indians  removed 
to  the  banks  of  the  Altamaha,  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Carolina,  and 
their  country  was  given  up  to  the  Lower  Creek  Indians,  allies  of 
the  English.  A  century  and  a  quarter  afterwards,  when  General 
Jackson  expelled  the  Indians  from  this  territory,  traces  were  found 
of  these  Spanish  missionary  villages,  overgrown  with  forest.*  Thus 
did  the  English  power  extend  itself  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and 
obtain  a  claim  to  that  region  which  soon  after  became  the  province 
of  Georgia. 

The  following  year  Charleston  was  invaded  by  a  French  and 
Spanish  squadron.  But  though  the  town  was  suffering  at  the  time 
from  yellow  fever,  the  colonists,  aided  by  the  Huguenots,  who  fought 
for  their  old  quarrel,  bravely  defended  the  place  and  repelled  the 
invaders  with  great  loss.  D'Iberville  was  at  Havanna  preparing  for  a 
new  attack  on  Charleston,  when  he  died. 

The  consequences  of  the  European  war  were  terrible  in  Massachu- 
setts. The  broken  eastern  tribes  settled  in  two  villages,  Becancour 
and  St.  Francis,  were  encouraged  by  the  Jesuist  priets  to  make  con- 
tinual inroads  on  the  English ;  and  now  that  peace  existed  between 
the  Five  IsTations  and  the  French,  the  whole  force  of  Canada  was 
directed  against  the  New  England  frontiers. 
*  Hildreth. 


-      (1706.)  DESTRUCTION'    OF    THE    TOWN    OF   DEERFIELD.  367 

In  vain  had  a  congress  of  chiefs  assured  Governor  Dudley  at  Casco, 
that  "  the  sun  was  not  further  from  the  earth  than  were  their  thoughts 
from  war  with  the  English ; "  six  weeks  afterwards,  led  on  by  the 
French,  war-parties  ranged  over  the  whole  country,  carrying  terror 
and  devastation  wherever  they  came. 

It  was  winter,  a  season  favourable  to  Indian  warfare,  and  the 
snow  lay  deep  on  the  ground,  when  Hertelle  de  Rouville,  with  200 
French,  and  142  Indians,  surprised  the  little  town  of  Deerfield  in  the 
dead  of  night,  being  able  to  pass  the  palisades  which  defended  the 
place,  owing  to  the  depth  of  the  snow.  Our  readers  are  sufficiently 
familiar  already  with  the  horrors  of  Indian  warfare ;  we  will  not, 
therefore,  go  through  the  terrible  details.  The  village,  with  the 
exception  of  the  church  and  one  dwelling-house,  was  set  on  fire  and 
wholly  destroyed ;  but  few  of  the  inhabitants  escaped;  forty- seven 
were  killed,  and  120  carried  into  captivity.  Among  these  latter  were 
the  Rev.  John  Williams,  the  minister  of  the  place,  his  wife  and  five 
children,  two  being  among  the  murdered.  Eunice,  the  wife,  who  was 
in  delicate  health,  carried  her  Bible  with  her  and  endeavoured  to  find 
comfort  in  its  pages  for  her  companions  in  affliction ;  on  the  second 
day  of  their  terrible  march,  however,  being  unable  to  keep  up  with 
the  party,  she  was  struck  dead  with  the  tomahawk.  Her  body,  left 
at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  was  found  by  some  of  the  remnant  of  Deerfield, 
and  reverently  interred  in  the  burial-ground  of  that  place.  Her  hus- 
band was  afterwards  laid  by  her  side,  and.  their  grave  stones  long 
marked  the  spot.  The  youngest  daughter,  but  seven  years  old  at 
the  time  of  this  domestic  tragedy,  was  adopted  into  a  family  of  pray- 
ing Indians  near  Montreal,  and  became  so  deeply  attached  to  her  new 
friends  that  nothing  could  induce  her  to  leave  them.  She  afterwards 
became  the  wife  of  a  chief,  and  in  later  years  visited  her  family  and 
friends,  then  restored  to  Deerfield,  in  her  Indian  dress ;  but  though 
every  inducement  was  used  to  prolong  her  stay,  and  a  fast  was  held 
in  the  village,  with  prayer  for  her  deliverance,  she  returned,  after  a 
few  days,  to  her  own  wigwam  and  the  love  of  her  own  Mohawk  chil- 
dren.* 

Terror  and  dismay  spread  through  New  England ;  and  the  veteran 

*  Bancroft. 


*  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

Benjamin  Church,  roused  by  these  horrors,  rode  seventy  miles  to  offer 
his  services  to  Dudley,  governor  of  Massachusetts,  on  behalf  of  his 
suffering  fellow-citizens.  Accordingly,  at  the  head  of  500  soldiers,  he 
ascended  the  Penobscot  and  St.  Croix  rivers,  an'd  destroyed  several 
Indian  towns  and  took  many  prisoners. 

In  1705,  Vaudreuil,  then  governor  of  Canada,  proposed  to  Dudley 
a  treaty  of  neutrality,  and  an  exchange  of  prisoners  took  place,  at 
which  time  John  Williams  and  his  family,  with  the  exception  of  the 
one  child  we  have  mentioned,  togther  with  the  other  inhabitants  of 
Deerfield,  were  restored. 

War,  however,  soon  broke  out  again.  In  1707,  Rhode  Island  and 
New  Hampshire,  having  raised  the  means  by  the  issue  of  bills  of 
credit,  joined  New  England  in  an  enterprise  against  Acadia.  A 
thousand  men,  therefore,  under  Colonel  March,  entered  the  river  in 
an  English  frigate,  and  landed  before  the  town  of  Port  Royal.  Not 
being  able  to  take  the  fort  for  want  of  cannon,  they  burned  the  town, 
killed  the  cattle,  and  destroyed  the  harvests  by  cutting  the  dams  in  the 
river  an4  overflowing  the  land.  From  Port  Royal  they  advanced  along 
the  coast,  committing  all  the  depredations  in  their  power.  The  next 
year,  the  French  retaliated.  Hertelle  de  Rouville,  descending  the 
Merrimac,  reached  the  devoted  village  of  Haverhill,  not  far  from 
Boston.  We  have  already  related  the  sorrows  of  this  place,  and  the 
heroism  of  some  of  its  inhabitants,  and  again  similar  scenes  were 
witnessed.  Haverhill  stood  in  the  midst  of  the  primeval  forest, 
near  the  Merrimac,  and  a  new  meeting-house,  the  pride  of  the 
place,  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  village.  On  the  night  of  the  29th  of 
August,  the  inhabitants  resigned  themselves  to  repose,  unconscious 
that  in  the  neighbouring  forest  lay  the  savage  Hertelle  de  Rouville  and 
his  men,  and  who,  an  hour  before  day -break,  having  solemnly  prayed, 
rushed  into  the  village,  bearing  with  them  the  terrors  and  horrors  of 
Indian  warfare.  The  village  was  set  on  firo.  Benjamin  Rolfe,  the 
minister,  and  his  wife  and  children,  were  cruelly  murdered,  as  well 
as  about  fifty  others,  while  the  same  number  were  carried  away  cap- 
tive. Many  instances  of  the  heroism  of  the  women  are  related. 
Mrs.  Swan  defended  her  house,  her  husband  and  family,  with  an  iron 
spit  three  yards  long.  The  wife  of  John  Johnson,  who  had  fled  to 
the  garden  with  her  child  in  her  arms,  after  the  murder  of  her  hus- 


(1707.)  ATROCITIES   OF   INDIAN   WARFARE.  369 

bond  in  the  house,  contrived,  as  she  fell  mortally  wounded,  to  hide 
the  infant,  which  was  found  alive  at  her  breast  when  the  massacre 
was  over.  Mary  Wainwright,  whose  husband  was  among  the  first 
killed,  unbarred  her  house-door,  apparently  willingly,  at  the  bidding 
of  the  savage  enemy,  and  asking  them  civilly  what  they  wanted,  and 
being  told  money,  went  out,  as  she  said,  to  bring  it  to  them,  and 
gathering  up  all  her  children,  save  one,  succeeded  in  escaping.* 

In  the  midst  of  the  outrage,  rapine,  and  bloodshed,  a  brave  man, 
named  Davis,  was  heard  shouting,  as  if  to  multitudes  of  people, 
"  Come  on  !  come  on !  we  will  have  them! "  And  the  enemy,  believ- 
ing that  a  large  body  of  troops  was  advancing,  made  a  hasty  retreat 
soon  after  sunrise,  carrying  with  them  a  number  of  prisoners,  several 
of  whom  however,  were  rescued  by  Samuel  Ayer,  a  bold  village 
champion,  and  a  few  others,  who  pursued  them,  though  Ayer  him- 
self perished  in  the  enterprise.  A  mound  in  the  village  grave  yard 
marks  to  this  day  the  resting-place  of  the  unhappy  victims. 

"  Such,"  says  Bancroft,  "  were  the  sorrows  of  that  generation." 
And  the  reader  may  say,  in  the  words  of  Peter  Schuyler,  in  his 
remonstrance  to  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil :  "  My  heart  swells  with 
indignation  when  I  think  that  a  war  between  Christian  princes,  bound 
to  the  exactest  laws  of  honour  and  generosity,  which  their  noble 
ancestors  have  illustrated  by  brilliant  examples,  is  degenerating  into 
a  savage  and  boundless  butchery !  " 

The  atrocities  of  this  warfare  inspired  the  English  colonists  with 
still  deeper  abhorrence  of  the  French  missionaries,  and  led  to  the 
design  of  exterminating  the  Indians,  which  otherwise  might  not  have 
been  entertained.  As  it  was  not  possible  to  carry  on  regular  warfare 
with  the  Indians,  who  shifted  their  abodes  at  the  approach  of  the 
enemy,  a  bounty  of  ten  pounds  for  every  Indian  scalp  was  offered  to 
the  regular  troops,  and  to  volunteers  the  sum  was  doubled,  while  as 
much  as  fifty  pounds  per  scalp  was  promised  to  parties  who  should 
gratuitously  scour  the  forests  for  Indians,  that  the  whole  land  might 
be  cleared  of  them,  as  countries  were  in  the  old  times  cleared  of  wild 
beasts. 
In  the  meantime  Nicholson  led  a  great  force  against  Port  Royal, 

*  Bancroft, 
16* 


370  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  succeeded  in  taking  the  place,  the  garrison  being  compelled  by 
famine  to  surrender.  The  name  was  changed  to  Annapolis,  in  honour 
of  Queen  Anne,  and  it  has  remained  in  the  hands  of  the  English 
ever  since.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  victory  that  the  brave 
Peter  Schuyler  hastened  to  London  with  his  five  Iroquois  sachems, 
as  we  have  already  related,  to  induce  the  British  government  to 
prosecute  the  war  thus  fortunately  commenced  against  Canada.  The 
witty  and  dissipated  St.  John,  afterwards  Viscount  Bolingbroke, 
entered  warmly  into  this  scheme,  and  a  fleet  of  fifteen  ships  of  war 
and  forty  transports  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Sir  Hovenden 
Walker,  while  the  brother  of  Mrs.  Masham,  "honest  Jack  Hill,"  as 
he  was  called  by  his  bottle  companions,  was  placed  at  the  head  of 
seven  veteran  regiments  of  Marlborough's  army  and  a  battalion  of 
marines. 

On  June  25,  the  fleet  arrived  at  Boston,  where  supplies  and  colonial 
forces  were  taken  on  board.  An  army  from  Connecticut,  New  Jersey, 
and  New  York,  Palatine  emigrants,  and  about  600  Iroquois,  assembled 
at  Albany,  preparatory  to  an  attack  on  Montreal ;  whilst  in  the  west, 
the  English  having  strengthened  themselves  by  an  alliance  with  the 
Fox  Indians,  sought  to  expel  the  French  from  Detroit,  their  settle- 
ment in  Michigan.* 

Nor  were  the  French  on  their  part  negligent  j  by  means  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries,  treaties  were  renewed  with  tne  natives  ;  the  for- 
tifications of  Quebec  and  Montreal  were  strengthened,  and  the  people 
were  so  resolute  and  determined,  that  women  even  laboured  volunta- 
rily for  the  common  defence.  The  whole  of  New  France  was  ready 
for  tbe  enemy  many  weeks  before  he  appeared.  At  length,  after 
unaccountable  and  inexcusable  delay,  the  English  squadron  ascended 
the  St.  Lawrence,  Sir  Hovenden  Walker  puzzling  his  brain  the  while 
how  his  ships  were  to  be  secured  during  the  coming  winter,  when  the 
rivers  would  be  frozen,  and  concluding  to  "  secure  them  on  the  dry 
ground  in  frames  and  cradles  till  the  thaw."  Thus  forgetting  the 
present  in  the  future,  they  slowly  proceeded,  and,  on  a  dark  and 
stormy  night,  through  the  stupidity  of  Admiral  Walker,  who  though 
warned  of  danger,  would  not  believe  it,  eight  transports  were  wrecked 
and  near  1,000  men  drowned. 

»  Bancroft. 


(1707.)  UNSUCCESSFUL   EXPEDITION  AGAINST   DETKOIT.  371 

A  council  of  war  the  next  morning  declared  it  impossible  to  proceed. 
There  is  something  like  fatuity  in  the  reasoning  of  the  admiral :  "  Had 
we,"  says  he,  "reached  Quebec,  1,000  or  1,200  men  must  have  been 
left  to  perish  of  cold  and  hunger ;  by  the  loss  of  a  part,  Providence 
has  saved  all  the  rest:"  and  the  fleet,  turning  about,  sailed  direct  for 
England,  having  sent  back  the  colonial  transports.  Nor  did  the 
admiral  wait  to  attack  the  French  post  in  Newfoundland,  as  his  orders 
required,  so  great  was  his  impatience  to  remove,  not  only  from  this 
inhospitable  climate,  but  from  the  colonists  whom  he  had  come  to 
serve,  and  of  whom  he  related  that  "  their  inter estedness,  ill-nature, 
sourness,  hypocrisy  and  canting  were  insupportable." 

This  ignoble  retreat  caused  great  disappointment  and  displeasure 
at  New  York;  nor  was  the  expedition  against  Detroit  more  successful. 
This  little  fort,  "  the  most  beautiful  spot  in  Canada,"  was  defended  by 
Du  Buisson  and  only  twenty  men.  Summoning,  however,  his  Indian 
allies,  who  were  all  strongly  attached  to  their  Jesuit  teachers,  they 
rallied  round  the  fort,  each  nation  under  its  own  ensign,  and  thus,  by 
one  spokesman,  addressed  the  commandant :  "  Father,  behold  thy 
children  compass  thee  round!  We  will,  if  need  be,  gladly  die  for  our 
father — only  take  care  of  our  wives  and  our  children,  and  spread  a 
little  grass  over  our  bodies  to  defend  them  from  the  flies ! "  The  Eng- 
lish allies  of  the  Fox  nation  were  now  in  their  turn  besieged,  and 
being  compelled  to  surrender,  were  either  murdered  or  distributed 
among  the  confederates  as  slaves. 

Whilst  the  northern  states  were  busy  with  their  schemes  of  Cana- 
dian conquest,  and  suffering  under  the  horrors  of  Indian  warfare, 
North  Carolina,  which  was  then  broken  up  into  factions,  as  we  have 
already  related,  under  a  disputed  governorship  was  thrown  into  a  state 
of  universal  alarm,  which  cast  all  other  considerations  into  the  shade, 
by  the  hostilities  of  the  Tuscaroras,  by  whom  a  plot  was  formed  for 
the  extermination  of  the  whites.  Their  first  outbreak  was  on  the 
infant  settlements  of  the  already-mentioned  German  emigrants  from 
the  Palatinate,  and  to  whom  lands  had  been  appropriated  on  the 
southern  bank  of  the  Roancke,  near  the  mouth  of  which  was  the  Swiss 
settlement  of  New  Berne,  all  lying  within  the  country  of  the  Tusca- 
roras. These  Indians,  alarmed  and  offended  at  the  encroachments 
of  the  white  man,  determined  to  take  summary  vengeance;  and 


372  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

accordingly,  Graffenburg,  the  German  superintendent,  and  Lawson, 
the  colonial  surveyor-general,  who,  \vith  his  chain  in  his  hand,  was 
allotting  out  the  lands  to  the  new-comers,  were  seized  by  sixty  armed 
Indians,  and  carried  up  the  country  to  the  chief  village  of  the  nation, 
where  the  assembled  chiefs,  after  a  discussion  of  two  days,  condemned 
Lawson  to  be  burned  at  the  stake;  Graffenburg,  who  represented 
himself  as  "  the  chief  of  another  tribe,  distinct  from  the  English,  and 
only  recently  arrived,"  was  allowed  to  return,  on  condition  that  he 
occupied  no  more  Indian  lands.  The  poor,  persecuted  German 
settlers,  with  the  Huguenots  their  neighbours,  were  now  exposed  to 
the  cruelties  of  more  pitiless  enemies  even  than  their  catholic  perse- 
cutors of  the  Old  World.  For  three  days  and  nights  the  fierce 
Tuscaroras  and  their  allies  hunted  their  human  prey  through  the 
woods,  devastating  the  country  with  fire  and  blood  until  they  paused 
from  weariness. 

South  Carolina  sent  a  force  of  600  militia  and  650  Indians,  under 
Captain  Barn  well,  for  their  relief;  and  though  as  yet  "a  vast  and 
howling  wilderness"  separated  North  from  South  Carolina,  they 
boldly  marched  through  it,  and  joining  the  troops  of  North  Carolina, 
attacked  the  Indians  intrenched  in  a  rude  fort,  killed  300,  and  took  a 
considerable  number  prisoners.  The  rest  fled  to  the  chief  town  of 
their  nation,  where  they  hastily  constructed  means  of  defence ;  but 
being  pursued  by  Barnwell,  were  at  length  compelled  to  sue  for  peace. 
After  the  loss  of  about  1,000  warriors,  the  Tuscaroras  abandoned  their 
country  for  ever,  and  uniting  themselves  to  the  Iroquois,  became  a 
sixth  nation  in  that  terrible  confederacy. 

But  the  Indian  war  was  not  yet  at  an  end.  In  1715,  the  Yamasees, 
who  occupied  the  country  north-east  of  the  Savannah  river,  secretly 
instigated  a  combination  of  all  the  Indians,  from  Florida  to  Cape 
Fear,  against  South  Carolina.  The  Creeks,  Apalachians,  Cherokees, 
Catawbas  and  Yamasees  engaged  in  the  enterprise,  the  whole  force 
of  which  was  computed  to  be  6,000  fighting  men.  The  southern 
tribes  fell  suddenly  on  the  traders  settled  among  them,  and  in  a  few 
hours  ninety  persons  were  massacred.  The  news  was  conveyed  to 
Charleston,  where  the  utmost  alarm  prevailed. 

Formidable  parties  also  penetrating  the  northern  frontier  approached 
Charleston ;  they  were  repulsed  by  the  militia,  but  their  route  was 


(1715.)  LARGE    ISSUES    OF  PAPER  MONEY.  373 

marked  by  devastation.  Charles  Craven,  at  that  time  governor, 
adopted  the  most  energetic  measures.  At  the  head  of  1,200  men  he 
marched  towards  the  southern  frontier,  and  overtook  the  strongest 
body  of  the  enemy,  at  a  place  called  Saltcatchers,  when  an  obstinate 
and  bloody  battle  was  fought.  The  Indians  were  totally  defeated, 
and  the  governor  pressing  upon  them,  drove  them  from  their  territory 
and  pursued  them  over  the  Savannah  river.  Here  they  were  hospi- 
tably received  by  the  Spaniards  of  Florida,  and  long  afterwards 
continued  to  make  incursions  into  Carolina.  Nearly  400  of  the 
Carolinians  were  slain  in  this  war. 

These  events  in  their  consequences  heightened  the  dissensions  already 
existing  between  the  colonists  and  the  proprietaries.  The  legislature 
had  applied  to  the  company  for  aid  and  protection,  which  was  denied  J 
large  issues  of  paper  money  were  therefore  resorted  to  as  a  temporary 
relief,  the  expenses  of  the  war  being  estimated  at  £100,000.  Direc- 
tions were  given  by  the  proprietaries  to  reduce  the  quantity  in 
circulation.  The  next  step  of  the  assembly  was  to  appropriate  the 
lands  from  which  the  Indians  had  been  driven ;  but  even  this  was 
opposed  by  the  proprietaries,  who  refused  the  necessary  sanction. 
Nor  was  their  request  for  the  recall  of  the  chief-justice  Trott  and  the 
receiver-general  Rhet't,  both  of  whom  had  made  themselves  extremely 
disliked  in  the  province  from  their  tyrannical  measures,  attended  to  j 
on  the  contrary,  they  were  not  only  retained  in  office,  but  thanked  for 
their  services.* 

It  almost  seemed  as  if  the  proprietary  government  was  doing  all  in 
its  power  to  irritate  the  mind  and  alienate  the  affections  of  the  colony; 
accordingly,  in  1719,  a  general  combination  was  formed  for  its  sub- 
version. The  inhabitants  bound  themselves  "  to  stand  by  each  other 
for  their  rights  and  privileges,  and  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
the  proprietaries."  All  was  done  with  the  utmost  secrecy  and  des- 
patch. A  deputation  of  the  people  waited  on  Robert  Johnson,  their 
governor,  begging  him  "to  hold  the  reins  of  government  for  the 
king."  Johnson,  true  to  his  employers,  firmly  rejected  their  offer ; 
on  which,  choosing  Arthur  Middleton  as  president,  they  voted  them- 

*  Willard, 


374  HISTOKY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

selves  "a  convention  delegated  by  the  people,"  and  selected  James 
Moore,  a  very  popular  man,  as  "the  fittest  person"  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province. 

These  summary  measures  were  not  found  to  be  displeasing  to  the 
English  crown.  It  was  decided  in  London  that  the  proprietaries  had 
forfeited  their  charter,  and  that  both  North  and  South  Carolina 
should  be  taken  under  the  royal  protection. 

"In  1720,  Francis  Nicholson,  known  in  the  history  of  the  northern 
provinces,  was  appointed  governor ;  and  early  the  following  year  he 
arrived  at  Charleston,  where  he  was  received  with  every  demonstration 
of  joy.  Peace  being  now  made  between  England  and  Spain,  Nicholson 
was  instructed  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  the  Indians,  and  also  of  the 
Spaniards  of  Florida.  He  accordingly  made  treaties  with  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Creeks,  in  which  boundaries  were  settled,  and  other  necessary 
regulations  made.  Having  thus  secured  the  province  from  without, 
Governor  Nicholson,  by  the  encouragement  and  support  which  he 
gave  to  literary  and  religious  institutions,  soon  caused  its  internal 
affairs  to  assume  a  new  aspect."* 

But  though  South  Carolina  had  thus  changed  the  conditions  of  its 
own  government,  the  change  was  not  recognised  in  North  Carolina 
till  1729,  when  seven-eighths  of  the  proprietaries  sold  their  shares  to 
the  crown  for  £22,000,  Lord  Carteret  alone  retaining  his  eighth  share. 
At  this  period  the  two  Carolinas  became  separate  royal  governments, 
and  so  remained  till  the  Revolution. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  South  Carolina,  we  must  mention  that 
which  Hildreth  very  justly  calls  her  "bad  pre-eminence  on  the 
subject  of  slave-legislation,"  and  which  remains  a  distinctive  charac- 
teristic to  the  present  time. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  Carolina  re- 
ceived a  remonstrance  from  Pennsylvania  on  the  subject  of  the 
importation  of  Indian  slaves  into  that  province ;  and  in  1712,  Massa- 
chusetts enacted  that  no  further  importation  of  Indian  slaves  into  her 
province  should  take  place  under  pain  of  forfeiture  to  the  crown. 
South  Carolina  had  a  vast  propensity  for  dealing  in  slaves,  whether 
Indian  or  African  j  and  the  same  year  that  Massachusetts  passed  her 
•  Willard 


(1712.)  CRUEL    ENACTMENTS    AGAINST    SLAVES.  375 

prohibitory  law,  South  Carolina  enacted  her  first  slave-law,  which 
premising  that  all  her  estates  and  plantations  could  only  be  cultivated 
by  the  labour  of  negro  and  other  slaves,  and  that  all  such  negroes 
and  slaves  "are  of  such  barbarous,  wild,  and  savage  natures,  as  unfit 
them  to  be  governed  by  the  laws,  customs,  and  practices  of  the  pro- 
vince," other  laws  shall  be  enacted  for  the  good  regulation  of  them, 
and  "the  restraining  of  the  disorders,  rapine,  and  inhumanity  to 
which  they  are  naturally  prone  and  inclined." 

As  a  specimen  of  these  enactments,  which  were  instituted  for  the 
"  good  regulation  "  of  these  unhappy  negroes,  mulattoes,  mestizoes,  or 
Indians,  we  will  give  the  following: — "Every  person,"  says  Hildreth, 
"  finding  a  slave  abroad  without  a  pass,  was  to  arrest  him  and  punish 
him  on  the  spot  '  by  moderate  chastisement,'  under  a  penalty  of  20s. 
for  neglecting  it.  All  negro  houses  were  to  be  searched  once  a  fort- 
night for  arms  and  stolen  goods.  A  slave  guilty  of  petty  larceny 
was,  for  the  first  offence,  to  be  *  publicly  and  severely  whipped ;  the 
second,  to  have  one  of  his  ears  cut  off,'  or  '  branded  on  the  forehead 
with  a  hot  iron,  so  that  the  mark  should  remain;'  for  the  third 
offence,  to  'have  his  nose  slit;'  for  the  fourth,  to  'suffer  death  or  other 
punishment,'  at  the  discretion  of  the  court.  Any  justice  of  peace,  on 
complaint  against  any  slave  for  any  crime— from  'chicken-stealing' 
up  to  insurrection  and  murder — was  to  issue  his  warrant  for  the 
slave's  arrest;  and  the  case  was  to  be  judged  by  himself,  another 
justice,  and  three  freeholders,  whom  they  should  summon ;  and  if  satis- 
factory evidence  of  guilt  appeared,  they  were  to  sentence  the  culprit 
to  death  or  other  punishment  as  the  case  might  be.  If  the  punish- 
ment were  death,  the  'kind  of  death'  was  left  to  the  judgment  and 
discretion  of  the  court;  execution  to  be  done  forthwith  on  their 
warrant;  the  crown  to  be  indemnified  at  the  public  charge.  This 
summary  form  of  procedure  in  the  trial  of  slaves  remains  in  force  in 
South  Carolina  to  this  day ;  and  a  very  similar  form  was  also  adopted, 
and  still  prevails,  in  North  Carolina." 

Death  was  the  punishment  of  any  person  who,  by  "promising 
freedom  in  another  country,"  induced  a  slave  to  leave  the  province, 
and  the  punishment  also  of  the  slave  himself  if  taken.  Any  slave 
running  away  for  twenty  days  was,  for  the  first  offence,  "  publicly 
and  severely  whipped ;"  for  the  second  offence,  the  runaway  was  to 


376  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

be  branded  with  the  letter  R  on  the  right  cheek;  if  the  master 
omitted  to  do  this  he  was  fined  £10.  For  the  third  offence,  if  absent 
thirty  days,  to  be  whipped,  and  have  one  of  his  ears  cut  off;  the 
master,  for  omission,  to  be  fined  £20,  and  so  on,  the  punishment  still 
increasing  in  atrocity ;  whilst  any  captain  or  commander  pursuing', 
apprehending  and  seizing  runaway  slaves,  and  bringing  themback,  dead 
or  alive,  was  entitled  to  a  premium  of  from  £2  to  £4  for  each  slave, 
and  all  persons  wounded  or  disabled  in  such  service  to  be  compensated 
by  the  public ;  but  if  the  unfortunate  slave  "  should  suffer  in  life  or 
member,  no  person  whatever  shall  be  liable  to  any  penalty  therefor." 
Any  person  killing  his  slave  out  of  "  wantonness,"  "  bloody-minded- 
ness,"  or  "  cruel  intention,"  to  forfeit  £50.  No  master  was  to  allow 
his  slaves  to  have  their  own  time,  nor  "  to  plant  for  themselves  any 
corn,  peas,  or  rice,  or  to  keep  any  stock  of  hogs,  cattle,  or  horses." 

Furthermore,  this  remarkable  act,  not  contented  with  outraging 
humanity  in  the  person  of  the  slaves,  proceeds  to  insult  and  blaspheme 
Christianity  also  ;  and  "  since  charity  and  the  Christian  religion  we 
profess,"  says  the  document,  "  obliges  us  to  wish  well  to  the  souls  of 
men,  and  that  religion  may  not  be  made  a  pretence  to  alter  any  man's 
property  and  right,  and  that  no  person  may  neglect  to  baptize  their 
negroes  or  slaves  for  fear  that  thereby  they  should  be  manumitted 
and  set  free,  it  shall  be,  and  is  hereby  declared,  lawful  for  any  negro, 
or  Indian  slave,  or  any  other  slave  or  slaves  whatsoever,  to  receive 
and  profess  the  Christian  faith,  and  to  be  thereunto  baptized ;  but 
notwithstanding  such  slave  or  slaves  shall  receive  or  possess  the 
Christian  religion  and  be  baptized,  he  or  they  shall  not  thereby  be 
manumitted  or  set  free."* 

"The  treaty  of  Utrecht,  1713,"  says  the  same  able  author,  "happily 
put  an  end  to  the  war  between  the  French  and  the  North  American 
colonies ;  and  by  this  treaty,  the  fur-trade  of  Hudson's  Bay;  the  whole 
of  Newfoundland,  reserving  to  the  French  some  share  of  the  fisheries; 
and  that  portion  of  the  island  of  St.  Kitts  in  the  West  Indies  belong- 
ing to  France,  together  with  Acadia  according  to  its  ancient  limits, 
were  ceded  to  the  English,"  whose  sovereignty  over  the  Five  Nations 
was  incidentally  acknowledged.  But  that  which  the  English  mer- 

*  Hildreth. 


(1713.)  ENMITY    OP   SPAIN. — POSTAL    COMMUNICATIONS. 

chants  esteemed  a  far  more  valuable  concession  was  the  transfer  to  the 
English  South  Sea  Company  of  a  contract  for  the  annual  transporta- 
tion to  Spanish  America  of  not  less  than  4,800  negroes,  or,  in  trade 
language,  "  Indian  pieces,"  originally  entered  into,  shortly  after  the 
accession  of  the  Bourbon  dynasty,  with  a  company  of  French  mer- 
chants, and  known  as  the  Assiento.  It  being  expected  that  immense 
profits  would  accrue  from  this  trade,  Philip  V.  of  Spain,  and  Queen 
Anne  of  England,  each  reserved  to  themselves  one-quarter  of  the 
stock  of  the  company.  Thus  were  the  sovereigns  of  England  and 
Spain  the  largest  slave-merchants  in  the  world.  Harley,  however, 
who  had  the  good  sense  and  the  uprightness  to  distinguish  between  a 
base  undertaking  and  commercial  advantage,  advised  Queen  Anne  to 
assign  her  stock  to  the  South  Sea  Company,  and  it  was  done. 

"  From  the  period  of  the  Peace  of  Utrecht,  Spain  became  intimately 
connected  in  her  commercial  relations  with  the  destinies  of  the  British 
American  colonies.  Like  France,  she  was  henceforth  their  enemy, 
while  they,  as  dependencies  of  Great  Britain,  tended  to  strengthen 
the  power  of  that  kingdom ;  but  from  the  same  motives  of  policy,  like 
France,  she  favoured  their  independence."  * 

The  territory  ceded  to  the  English  in  the  Bay  of  Fundy  was  now 
erected  into  a  new  province ;  the  old  name  of  Nova  Scotia  being 
restored,  and  which  it  has  ever  since  retained.  Louisiana,  of  which, 
however,  r.  3  boundaries  were  decided,  remained  in  the  possession  of 
the  French,  and  they,  under  that  name,  comprehended  a  vast  territory 
comprising  the  whole  basin  of  the  Mississippi. 

In  1710,  the  post-office  system  was  extended  by  England  to 
America.  "A  chief  office,"  we  are  told  by  Hildreth,  "was  established 
at  New  York,  to  which  letters  were  to  be  conveyed  by  regular  packets 
across  the  Atlantic.  The  same  act  regulated  the  rates  of  postage  in 
the  plantations.  A  line  of  posts  was  presently  established,  north  to 
the  Piscataqua,  and  South  to  Philadelphia,  irregularly  extended,  a  few 
years  afterwards,  to  Williamsburg  in  Virginia;  the  post  leaving 
Philadelphia  for  the  south  as  often  as  letters  enough  were  lodged  to 
pay  the  expense.  The  postal  communication  subsequently  established 
with  the  Carolinas  was  still  more  irregular." 

»  Willson. 


378 


HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 


In  1718,  William  Penn  died  in  England,  leaving  his  interests  iu 
Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  to  his  sons,  John,  Thomas  and  Richard 
Penn,  who  continued  to  administer  the  government  by  deputies  until 
the  time  of  the  Revolution,  when  the  American  Republic  purchased 
their  claims  for  about  £100,000. 

At  the  time  of  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover  to  the  British 
throne,  the  population  of  the  English  colonies  is  stated  to  have  been 
as  under,  though  this  statement  is  considered  somewhat  below  the 
truth  :— 


Whites. 

New  Hampshire    9,500 

Massachusetts       94,000 

Ehode  Islands       8,500 

Connecticut           46,000 

New  York      27,000 

New  Jersey 21,000 

Pennsylvania  and  Delaware...  43,300 

Maryland       40,700 

Yirginia         72,000 

North  Carolina      ,  7,500 

South  Carolina      6,250 


375,750 


Negroes. 

Total. 

150    ... 

9,650 

2,000     ... 

96,000 

500     ... 

9,000 

1,500     ... 

47,500 

4,000     ... 

31,000 

1,500     ... 

22,500 

2,500     ... 

45,800 

9,500     ... 

50,200 

23,000     ... 

95,000 

3,700     ... 

11,200 

10,500     ... 

16,750 

58,850     ...  434,600 


The  American  seas  were  again,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  infested 
with  pirates,  the  head-quarters  of  whom  were  the  Bahama  Isles  and 
the  unfrequented  creeks  of  the  coast  of  the  Carolinas.  In  1717,  a 
celebrated  pirate  named  Bellamy  was  wrecked  on  Cape  Cod,  where  he 
perished  with  about  100  of  his  men,  the  five  or  six  who  escaped  the 
sea  being  hung  at  Boston.  Another,  Theach,  or  Blackbeard  as  he  was 
called,  lurked  in  Pamlico  Bay,  and  was  supposed  to  be  favoured  by 
Cornbury  and  other  governors  of  South  Carolina :  he,  however,  was 
taken  by  two  Virginian  vessels  sent  out  by  Spotswood  from  the  Chesa- 
peake in  pursuit  of  him.  A  force  from  England  took  possession  of 
Providence,  the  chief  harbour  of  the  Bahamas,  fortified  the  place,  and 
established  a  regular  colony  there,  which  was  the  first  permanent 


(1723.)  STEED    BONNET,   THE    PIRATE.  379 

occupation  of  this  desolate  group.  A  desperate  body  of  pirates, 
headed  by  Steed  Bonnet,  harboured  about  Cape  Fear.  After  an 
expense  of  about  £10,000  he  was  taken,  and  with  forty  of  his  men 
hung-  at  Charleston;  and  in  1723,  twenty-six  others,  natives  of  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York  and  Virginia,  were  executed  for  the 
same  crime  at  Newport.  These  summary  measures  cleared  the 
American  seas  of  pirates. 


380  HISTORY  Of  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE  ACCESSION  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  HANOVER — LAW'S  GREAT  BUBBLE 
—LOUISIANA  ESTABLISHED— GROWTH  OF  LIBERTY  IN  THE  STATES. 

THE  accession  of  the  House  of  Hanover  to  the  British  throne  was 
hailed  throughout  the  British  American  colonies  as  a  Whig  and 
protestant  triumph,  especially  welcome  to  the  northern  states. 

We  have  already  spoken  of  the  financial  difficulties  into  which  the 
late  wars  had  in  every  case  brought  the  states  engaged  in  them--— 
French  as  well  as  English — and  which  gave  rise  to  the  emission  of  a 
vast  amount  of  paper-money,  in  every  case  only  increasing  the  diffi- 
culty; while  in  some,  as  in  that  of  Louisiana,  the  most  disastrous 
results  were  the  consequence. 

The  French  had  at  this  period  apparently  gained  firm  possession  of 
a  powerful  extent  of  American  territory.  In  1713,  they  erected  on 
the  banks  of  Lake  Champlain,  the  whole  basin  of  which  they  claimed, 
the  Fort  at  Crown  Point,  and  soon  after  the  fortress  of  Niagara. 
Anthony  Crozat,  a  wealthy  French  merchant,  took  over  in  1712  a 
second  colony  to  Detroit,  which  was  now  a  flourishing  settlement. 
He  also  held  a  patent  from  Louis  XIV.  for  the  exclusive  trade  of 
Louisiana,  in  which  De  la  Motte  Cadillac,  the  governor,  became  his 
partner. 

Now  in  possession  of  the  most  important  western  routes  to  the 
Mississippi,  the  French  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  their  various 
settlements  at  Chicago,  Vincennes  and  Kaskasia,  all  in  a  flourishing 
condition.  It  was  the  boast  of  the  royal  geographer  of  France,  that 
the  American  territory  of  New  France  "extended  to  the  remotest 
waters  which  flowed  west  to  the  Mississippi,  south  to  the  Mobile,  and 
north  to  the  St.  Lawrence ;"  and  in  order  to  defend  as  well  as  to 


(1715.)  THE    MISSISSIPPI    SCHEME.  381 

connect  this  vast  territory,  a  line  of  military  forts  was  designed  and 
in  part  erected.  The  English  were  not  unmoved  spectators  of  these 
ambitious  designs,  and  eagerly  awaited  the  time  when  they  might 
defeat  them.  As  yet,  however,  the  two  rival  powers  were  separated 
hy  extensive  tracts  of  country  occupied  by  the  most  formidable  savage 
tribes  of  America,  but  who  were  destined  ere  long  to  be  involved  in 
the  great  struggle  between  these  two  civilised  nations. 

But  to  return  to  Anthony  Crozat,  the  merchant  whose  opulence 
was  said  to  be  "  the  astonishment  of  the  world."  The  most  extrava- 
gant ideas  had  been  circulated  through  France  regarding  the  gold 
and  silver  mines  of  Louisiana,  and  Crozat  anticipated  that  their  trea- 
sures, and  a  trade  which  he  intended  to  establish  with  Mexico,  would 
augment  his  wealth  still  more.  But  of  gold  and  silver  there  were 
none,  and  every  Spanish  harbour  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  closed 
against  his  ships.  Disappointed  in  his  hopes,  after  five  years  of  vain 
perseverance,  he  threw  up  his  patent,  only  to  be  succeeded  by  other 
adventurers  of  a  much  more  dangerous  character.  The  exclusive 
commerce  of  Louisiana  for  twenty-five  years,  with  a  monopoly  of  the 
Canadian  fur-trade,  was  conferred  upon  the  "  Mississippi  Company," 
or  "  the  Company  of  the  Indies,"  which  soon  became  notorious  for 
the  ruin  which  it  brought  on  thousands.  At  the  time  when  the 
colony  was  transferred  to  this  dangerous  company  it  contained  about 
700  people. 

The  Mississippi  Company  was  connected  with  John  Law's  Bank, 
one  of  the  most  gigantic  financial  speculations  of  any  age.  Law,  a 
native  of  Edinburgh,  and  controller-general  of  France,  conceived 
a  plan  of  paying  off  the  national  debt  of  that  country  by  means 
of  the  profits  arising  in  part  from  this  Mississippi  Company. 
The  French  ministry  fell  into  the  scheme,  and  Law  opened  a 
bank  under  the  auspices  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  then  regent 
of  France,  and  most  of  the  people  of  property  in  that  country, 
deluded  by  the  prospect  of  the  immense  gains  which  were  promised 
them,  became  shareholders  either  in  the  bank  or  in  one  of  Law's 
companies,  for  he  had  an  East  India  as  well  as  a  Mississippi  Company. 
Law's  Bank  was  declared  a  royal  bank  in  1718,  and  the  shares  rose 
to  such  a  value  that  they  were  soon  worth  eighty  times  the  amount 
of  all  the  current  specie  of  France.  The  very  next  year  the  great 


382  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

bubble  burst — only  one  year  before  the  bursting  of  the  South  Sea 
bubble  in  England, — and  so  great  was  the  ruin  which  it  involved, 
that  the  French  government  was  almost  overthrown,  and  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  families  reduced  to  beggary  and  despair. 

Meantime,  the  Mississippi  Company  had  undertaken  to  introduce 
6,000  white  settlers  and  half  that  number  of  blacks  into  the 
colony ;  and  the  enormous  sums  which  wrere  soon  realised  by  the  sale 
of  land-shares  enabled  both  this  company  and  private  speculators  to 
send  over  great  numbers.  Of  the  grants  of  land  which  were  made, 
it  may  suffice  to  say  that  Law  himself  received  twelve  square  miles 
on  the  Arkansas,  which  he  undertook  to  settle  with  1,500  Germans. 

Bienville,  now  re-appointed  governor,  selected,  in  June  1718,  a  site 
on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  for  the  capital  of  the  new  empire ;  it 
was  in  the  middle  of  a  swamp,  which  he  set  a  party  of  convicts  to 
clear, — but  no  matter,  a  grand  empire  was  to  be  founded,  and  in 
honour  of  the  regent  the  city  was  called  New  Orleans.  On  the  25th 
of  August,  1719,  800  emigrants  from  France  chanted  Te  Deum  as 
they  cast  anchor  near  Dauphin's  Island.  Here  full  of  rejoicing  hopes 
they  landed,  and  with  that  the  joy  and  the  hope  was  at  an  end.  Dis- 
appointment was  the  condition  of  all,  despair  and  death  that  of  many. 
Almost  the  only  colonists  who  were  successful  in  Louisiana  were 
emigrants  from  Canada,  resolute  and  hardy  men,  "  who  came,"  says 
Bancroft,  "  with  little  beyond  a  staff  and  the  clothes  that  covered 
them." 

In  1722,  Charlevoix  reports  of  this  infant  metropolis,  which  Bien- 
ville had  made  the  seat  of  government,  that  it  consisted  of  a  large 
wooden  warehouse,  a  shed  for  a  church,  two  or  three  ordinary  houses, 
and  a  quantity  of  huts  crowded  together,  the  whole  being  a  savage 
and  desert  place,  as  yet  almost  entirely  covered  with  canes  and  trees. 

The  failure  of  Law's  bank  put  a  period  to  emigration  to  Louisiana, 
nevertheless  great  numbers  of  new  settlers  were  already  there,  many 
of  whom  were  of  a  more  resolute  character  than  those  of  New  Orleans ; 
and  it  was  to  this  very  desert  of  cane-brake  that  Law's  German 
settlers  on  the  Arkansas  removed,  and  here,  receiving  allotments  of 
land  on  each  side  of  the  river,  they  soon  began  to  prosper ;  the  rich 
tract  of  land  known  to  this  day  as  the  "  German  coast"  testifying  to 
the  success  of  their  earlv  labours. 


(1729.)  THE    FRENCH    IN   LOUISIANA.  383 

Louisiana  was  at  length  established ;  the  upper  and  more  remote 
parts  were  placed  under  the  care  of  the  Jesuits,  the  lower  under  that 
of  the  Capuchins.  Eight  hundred  and  fifty  French  and  Swiss 
troops  were  maintained  in  the  country,  and  the  administration  com- 
mitted to  a  commandant-general,  two  king's  lieutenants,  a  senior 
councillor,  three  other  councillors,  an  attorney-general,  and  a  clerk. 
These,  with  any  director  of  the  company  who  might  be  in  the  pro- 
vince, formed  the  Superior  Council,  which  was  also  the  supreme 
tribunal  in  civil  and  criminal  matters. 

"  Rice  was  the  principal  crop,  the  main  resource  for  feeding  the 
population  ;  to  this  were  added  tobacco  and  indigo.  The  bayberry, 
a  natural  production  of  that  remote  region,  was  cultivated  for  its 
wax.  The  fig  had  been  introduced  from  Province,  and  the  orange 
from  St.  Domingo.  As  the  settlements  in  the  Illinois  country  were 
increased  by  immigration  from  Canada,  supplies  of  flour  began  to  be 
received  from  that  region."* 

The  French,  however,  did  not  establish  themselves  amid  this  vast 
territory  without  a  struggle  with  the  aboriginal  possessors,  whose 
blood  ever  crimsoned  the  soil  as  if  in  preparation  for  the  harvests  of 
the  white  man.  The  Choctas,  inhabiting  the  lower  Mississippi,  were 
allies  of  the  French.  In  the  midst  of  this  nation  dwelt  the  Natchez, 
a  peculiar  race,  worshippers  of  the  sun  like  the  Peruvians. 

Alarmed  by  the  encroachments  of  the  French,  who  had  built  Fort 
Rosalie  in  the  Natchez  country,  and  instigated  by  the  hostile 
Chickasaws,  they  rose  in  1729,  and  massacred  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  whites,  about  200  in  number.  Terror  spread  through  the 
colony,  from  New  Orleans  into  Illinois,  and  the  French,  with  their 
allies  the  Choctas,  rose  for  vengeance.  A  war  of  extermination 
began  ;  and  within  two  years  the  great  chief  of  the  tribe,  the  Great 
Sun,  as  he  was  called,  with  400  prisoners,  were  shipped  off  to 
Hispaniola,  and  sold  as  slaves ;  the  few  scattered  remnants  of  the 
nation  were  received  among  the  Chickasaws  and  the  Musgogees. 
The  Natchez  as  a  race  were  no  more. 

The  Mississippi  Company,  disappointed  in  every  hope  of  profit,  and 
still  further  embarrassed  by  the  Natchez  war,  threw  up  their  patent, 

*  Hildreth. 


384  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  Bienville  -was  appointed  royal  governor  of  Louisiana.  His  first 
business  was  to  subdue  the  Chickasaws,  who,  undaunted  by  the  fate 
of  their  Mends,  the  Natchez,  threatened  to  become  as  formidable 
adversaries  in  the  South  as  the  Iroquois  in  the  North. 

We  will  not  go  into  the  terrible  details  of  this  war,  which 
lasted  for  about  three  years,  during  which  some  of  the  noblest  men  of 
the  province  suffered  the  horrors  of  Indian  martyrdom,  among  whom 
was  the  brave  Vincennes,  whose  name  is  preserved  in  the  oldest 
settlement  in  Indiana.  At  length  in  1740,  after  four  years  of  fruitless 
warfare  and  unexampled  suffering,  peace  was  said  to  be  concluded, 
but  the  Chickasaws  remained  masters  of  the  wilderness,  and  con- 
tinued as  a  defence  to  the  English  settlements  on  the  west. 

Half  a  century  after  the  first  colonisation  of  Louisiana  by  La  Salle, 
says  Bancroft,  its  population  probably  amounted  to  5,000  whites  and 
half  that  number  of  blacks.  The  valley  of  the  Mississippi  was  still 
nearly  a  wilderness.  Half  a  century,  with  kings  for  its  patrons,  had 
not  accomplished  for  Louisiana  one  tithe  of  the  prosperity  which 
within  the  same  period  had  sprung  naturally  from  the  benevolence  of 
William  Penn  to  the  peaceful  settlers  on  the  Delaware. 

The  paper  money  put  into  circulation  by  Massachusetts  to  defray 
her  late  war  expenses  brought  her  also  into  the  extremest  financial 
difficulties.  The  attention  of  the  colony  was  directed  to  remedy  these, 
and  three  parties  were  formed,  each  with  its  several  plan  ;  and  the 
scheme  of  a  public  bank,  the  government  being  pledged  for  the 
value  of  the  issues,  was  adopted,  and  bills  of  credit  to  the  amount 
of  £50,000  put  in  circulation ;  but  the  scheim  failed,  and  Governor 
Shute,  who  succeeded  Dudley  in  1766,  recommended  a  further  emis- 
sion of  bills  of  credit,  which  led  to  the  issue  of  double  the  former 
amount  It  was  but  like  the  drunkard's  dram,  to  steady  for  a  moment 
the  shattered  nervous  system,  only  by  increasing  the  mischief. 

The  governor  lost 'his  popularity,  the  currency  was  depreciated,  and 
disputes  arose  on  the  question  of  his  salary,  which  he  demanded  should 
be  raised,  while  the  people,  attributing  to  him  some  of  the  present 
difficulties,  insisted  equally  resolutely  on  its  reduction. 

Wearied  at  length  with  contention,  he  returned  to  England,  to  prefer 
his  complaints  to  parliament,  and  succeeded  so  far  as  to  obtain  the 
introduction  of  two  clauses  in  the.  Massachusetts  charter,  which  con« 


(1766.)  THE    SMALLPOX   IN   BOSTON — INOCULATION.  385 

trolled  her  liberties,  and  which,  for  fear  of  something  worse,  tha 
council  was  obliged  to  submit  to. 

While  these  violent  contentions  were  going  forward  between  the 
governor  and  the  colony,  the  utmost  alarm  was  excited  by  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  small-pox  in  Boston,  which  led  to  much  popular  exas- 
peration. Cotton  Mather,  now  a  much  wiser  man  than  in  the  days 
of  the  Salem  witchcraft,  having  read  in  the  transactions  of  the  Royal 
Society  an  account  of  the  Turkish  mode  of  inoculation  for  this  terrible 
malady,  resolved  to  stem  the  present  affliction  by  this  remedy.  After 
applying  in  vain  to  various  medical  practitioners,  he  at  length  pre- 
vailed on  Zabdiel  Boylston  to  try  the  experiment.  Boylston,  a 
native  of  the  colony,  and  a  man  of  courage  and  enlightenment,  made 
the  first  attempt  upon  his  own  son.  Inoculation  was  successful  in 
every  case  where  it  was  used,  but  a  violent  opposition  against  it,  as  an 
interference  with  the  will  of  God,  arose;  pamphlets  of  the  most 
virulent  character  were  circulated ;  the  incensed  mob,  who  regarded 
this  new-fangled  mode  of  practice  as  the  infusion  of  poison  into  the 
blood,  paraded  the  streets  with  halters  in  their  hands  to  hang  the 
inoculators,  and  a  lighted  grenade  was  even  thrown  into  the  house  of 
Cotton  Mather,  as  expressive  of  the  popular  exasperation.  But 
neither  Cotton  Mather,  nor  his  enlightened  friend,  Zabdiel  Boylston, 
were  men  to  be  easily  daunted.  The  zeal  which  thirty  years  before 
had  made  Mather  a  knight- errant  against  witchcraft,  sustained  him 
now,  even  though  the  general  court  itself  seemed  inclined  to  prohibit 
inoculation  by  legal  enactment.  Fortunately,  however,  humanity 
and  science  prevailed ;  the  bill  was  thrown  out  of  the  council,  and  the 
same  remedy  being  at  the  very  same  period  introduced  into  England, 
no  further  opposition  was  made. 

The  popular  controversies  which  had  lately  been  carried  on  by 
pamphlets  on  the  paper  money,  Governor  Shute's  salary,  and  now  en 
the  small-pox,  led  James  Franklin,  a  printer  of  Boston,  to  commence  a 
newspaper  called  the  "  New  England  Courant."  There  were  already 
in  Boston  two  newspapers,  or  rather  advertising  sheets,  which  satis- 
fied themselves  with  a  bald  summary  of  news.  Franklin,  however, 
aimed  at  the  discussion  of  public  questions,  and  the  diffusion  of  free 
opinion.  Benjamin  Franklin,  then  a  boy  of  fifteen,  was  his  brother's 
assistant,  not  only  composing  the  types  and  carrying  out  the  paper. 

VOL. L  17 


386  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

but  himself  writing  for  its  columns.  Strange  to  say,  this  paper  was 
one  of  the  opponents  of  inoculation.  This  might  have  passed;  but 
when  the  hypocrisy  of  "religious  knaves"  was  attacked,  and  the  acts 
of  government  censured,  the  two  printers  were  cited  before  the  coun- 
cil, and  charged  with  "  mocking  religion  and  bringing  it  into  con- 
tempt ;  affronting  his  majesty's  ministers,  and  disturbing  the  good 
order  of  the  province."  The  elder  Franklin  was  imprisoned,  the 
younger,  the  real  offender,  admonished.  The  paper  was  continued  in 
the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  but  its  credit  was  gone,  and  after 
languishing  some  little  time  it  expired.  The  elder  brother  blamed 
the  younger  severely  as  the  author  of  his  misfortunes,  and  the  next 
year  Benjamin  fled  to  New  York  to  escape  the  tyranny  of  his  brother, 
and  thence  on  foot  to  the  Delaware,  arriving  in  Philadelphia  with 
one  dollar  in  his  pocket,  but  without  friends  or  home. 

Again  the  Indian  war  was  carried  on  in  tb.e  northern  frontier, 
and  even  as  far  west  as  Connecticut  River,  where  Fort  Dummer  was 
erected  as  a  defence  of  the  towns  in  that  quarter.  Fort  Dummer  is 
now  Brattleborough,  the  oldest  town  in  the  present  state  of  Vermont. 
Without  going  into  the  particulars  of  this  war,  it  is  sufficient  to  say, 
that  it  was  terrible  and  bloody,  as  all  such  former  wars ;  that  the 
premium  on  Indian  scalps  rose  to  £100 ;  and  that  Norridgewock 
was  taken,  and  the  Jesuit  father,  Sebastian  Rasles,  slain,  with  num- 
bers of  his  Indian  disciples,  the  chapel  profaned  and  burned,  together 
with  the  whole  village. 

The  English  government,  jealous  of  the  growing  prosperity  of  the 
colonies,  and  incited  by  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  royal  governors, 
menaced  the  American  provinces  by  the  loss  of  their  charters,  by  the 
curtailment  of  their  popular  liberty,  and  the  imposition  of  taxes.  The 
latter,  however,  the  scheme  of  which  originated,  it  is  said,  with  Sir 
William  Keith,  at  one  time  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  was  rejected 
by  the  commissioners  of  trade  and  by  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  who,  foresee- 
ing the  impolicy  of  such  a  measure,  replied,  "  I  will  leave  the  taxing 
of  the  British  colonies  to  some  of  my  successors  who  have  more  bold- 
ness than  I  have,  and  who  are  less  the  friends  of  commerce  than 
myself." 

Every  means  was  taken  to  advance  the  British  manufacturer  at 
the  expense  of  the  colonies,  and  all  competition  of  industry  in  the 


(1719.)         BRITISH   RESTRICTIONS   ON   COLONIAL  MANUFACTURES.         387 

colonies  was  prohibited.  It  was  soon  found  that  hats  could  be  made 
most  advantageously  in  the  land  of  the  beaver,  but  this  was  for- 
bidden ;  nor  in  any  wise  could  the  provinces  be  allowed  to  trade  with 
each  other.  In  1719,  the  Ho  use  of  Commons  declared,  that  the  erect- 
ing of  manufactories  in  the  colonies  tended  to  decrease  their  depen- 
dence on  Great  Britain,  and  the  production  of  iron  was  strictly 
forbidden :  "  None  in  the  plantations  should  manufacture  iron-wares 
of  any  kind  whatsoever,  nor  make  bar  nor  iron-rod."  The  northern 
colonies  opposed  this  bill  resolutely.  Logan,  the  excellent  governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  justly  remarked,  "  To  prohibit  our  making  bar-iron 
for  our  own  use,  is  the  very  way  to  alienate  the  minds  of  the  people 
of  these  parts,  and  shake  their  dependence  on  Britain."  To  promote 
the  interests  of  the  British  sugar  colonies,  all  intercourse  was  forbid- 
den between  the  northern  provinces  and  any  tropical  island,  except 
those  belonging  to  Britain,  which  put  a  stop  to  the  commercial 
transactions  between  the  northern  colonies  and  the  French  and 
Dutch  islands,  whereby  the  provisions,  horses  and  timber  of  the 
north  had  been  exchanged  for  rum,  sugar  and  molasses.  In  1733, 
parliament  having  recognised  the  "  sugar  colonies  of  America  as  the 
most  important  to  the  trade  of  England,"  imposed  a  duty  of  9d.  on 
every  gallon  of  rum,  6d.  on  every  gallon  of  molasses,  and  5s.  on  every 
hundred- weight  of  sugar,  or  on  any  of  these  articles  imported  from 
foreign  plantations  into  the  British  colonies.  This  led  to  extreme 
dissatisfaction,  to  contraband  trade,  and,  in  the  case  of  molasses,  to 
almost  entire  prohibition;  for,  rather  than  submit,  the  resolute 
colonists  gave  up  the  use  of  it.  In  Maine,  also,  where  a  royal  mono- 
poly of  the  fir-timber  existed,  the  settlers  were  brought  into  continual 
and  vexatious  collision  with  the  revenue  officers.  If  a  singletree 
were  felled  on  any  of  the  land  claimed  by  the  British  Crown,  the 
settler  was  liable  to  punishment  for  trespass  and  for  the  destruction  of 
timber  destined  for  the  royal  navy.  Added  to  all  this,  were  financial 
difficulties  and  disputes  about  the  currency.  Unceasing  discontent 
and  dissatisfaction  existed  between  the  colonies  and  Great  Britain. 
The  seeds  of  the  great  approaching  struggle  were  already  sown. 

In  1728,  Burnet,  the  son  of  Bishop  Burnet,  was  appointed  governor 
of  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire,  in  the  place  of  Shute,  and 
again  the  controversy  rose  respecting  salary.  £1,400  were  offered, 


388  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

which,  he  refused,  and  removed,  on  suspicion  of  undue  influence,  the 
general  court  from  Boston  to  Salem ;  but  even  there  it  was  equally 
refractory,  when  it  was  again  adjourned,  and  met  in  four  months  at 
Cambridge,  but  with  no  favourable  result.  The  following  month, 
harassed  with  the  difficulties  of  his  position,  Burnet  sickened  of  fever 
and  died,  bequeathing  the  old  quarrel  to  his  successor,  Belcher.  The 
instructions  of  the  new  governor  forewarned  him  of  the  temper  of  the 
people  he  had  to  govern,  and  that  "for  some  years  they  had  been 
attempting  by  unwarrantable  practices,  to  weaken,  if  not  cast  off,  the 
obedience  which  they  owed  to  the  crown,  and  the  dependence  which 
all  colonies  ought  to  have  on  the  mother  country."  Belcher,  there- 
fore, as  the  wisest  policy,  accepted  such  amount  of  salary  as  the 
assembly  chose  to  vote  him. 

During  the  time  of  Belcher's  governorship,  the  metaphysician 
Berkeley,  the  advocate  of  the  non-existence  of  matter,  removed  to 
Newport,  in  Rhode  Island,  intending  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  New 
World.  He  had  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  college  in  the 
Bermudas  for  the  instruction  of  Indians  and  the  education  of  mis- 
sionaries ;  and  resigning  his  rich  sinecure  Irish  deanery  of  Deny,  he 
proposed  to  become  rector  of  this  college,  which  was  to  be  endowed 
by  the  sale  of  lands  in  the  portion  of  St.  Kitt's  ceded  to  the  English, 
at  £100  per  annum.  George  I.  took  an  interest  in  the  scheme,  and 
the  House  of  Commons  gave  the  necessary  assent,  when  Berkeley, 
just  married,  arrived  at  Newport,  now  a  "  gay,  thriving  and  commer- 
cial city  of  five  thousand  inhabitants."  Berkeley,  pleased  by  his 
reception,  bought  land  and  built  a  house,  intending  here  to  wait  till 
all  requisite  arrangements  were  made.  But  George  I.  died,  and  the 
requisite  arrangements  never  were  made ;  and  after  two  years  Berke- 
ley returned  to  England,  and  became  Bishop  of  Cloyne. 

In  New  York  the  people  and  the  governor  came  also  into  collision, 
and  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement  it  occasioned,  a  newspaper 
appeared  as  the  organ  of  the  popular  cause,  which  soon  led  to  the 
imprisonment  of  its  printer,  John  Peter  Zenger.  The  trial  was  an 
important  one.  The  aged  Andrew  Hamilton,  a  lawyer  of  Philadel- 
phia, addressed  the  jury  for  the  printer.  "This  is  not,"  he  said, 
"  the  cause  of  a  poor  printer  of  New  York  alone ;  it  is  the  best  cause 
— the  cause  of  liberty.  Every  man  who  prefers  freedom  to  a  life  of 


ACQUITTAL   OP  JOHN   ZENGER   THE   PRINTER.  389 

slavery  will  bless  and  honour  you  as  men,  who,  by  an  impartial  ver- 
dict, lay  a  noble  foundation  for  securing  to  ourselves,  our  posterity, 
and  our  neighbours,  that  to  which  nature  and  the  honour  of  our 
country  have  given  us  a  right — the  liberty  of  opposing  arbitrary 
power  by  speaking  and  writing  truth."  The  jury  returned  a  verdict 
of  "  Not  Guilty  ; "  and  not  only  the  colony  of  New  York,  but  all  the 
other  colonies  in  which  the  struggle  for  the  birth  of  liberty  had  com- 
menced, exulted  as  for  a  great  triumph.  At  the  same  time,  Benjamin 
Franklin,  through  a  paper  which  he  had  established  in  Philadelphia, 
was  giving  a  voice  to  the  sentiment  which  was  vital  in  every  American 
breast.  "  The  judgment  of  a  whole  people,"  declared  he,  "  if  unbiased 
by  faction,  undeluded  by  the  tricks  of  designing  men,  is  infallible. 
The  people  cannot,  in  any  sense,  divest  themselves  of  the  supreme 
authority,  inasmuch  as  the  voice  of  a  whole  people  is  the  voice  of 
God." 

"  The  colonies,"  says  Bancroft,  "  were  forming  a  character  of  their 
own,  Throughout  the  whole  continent  national  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence were  gaining  vigour  and  maturity." 


390  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  GEORGIA  AND  THE  PROGRESS  OF  THE  STATES. 

THE  settlement  of  Louisiana  was  for  many  years  a  series  of  unsuccess- 
ful attempts.  That  of  Georgia,  though  perhaps  it  cannot  be  called 
a  success  from  the  commencement,  furnishes  that  -which  is  still  hetter, 
a  beautiful  chapter  in  the  history  of  humanity. 

At   the  period   of  which  we  are  now  writing,  England  acknow- 
ledged the  principle  avowed  by  Locke  and  Shaftesbury  in  the  Grand 
Model  Constitution  of  Carolina,  that  the  protection  of  property  was 
the  end  of  government ;  hence  petty  theft,  whatever  the  incitement 
might  be,  was  punished  by  the  gallows,  and  the  jails  were  filled  with 
sanall  debtors,  whom  the  law  condemned  to  life-long  imprisonment. 
The  hard  and  hapless  case  of  these  unfortunate  men  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  benevolent,  and  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the 
state  of  the  jails  throughout  the  kingdom  was  formed.     Of  this  com- 
mission was  James  Oglethorpe,  a  member  of  the  British  parliament, 
"  a  man  of  an  heroic  mind  and  a  merciful  disposition,  in  the  full 
activity  of  middle  life,"  at  once  a  scholar  and  a  soldier.     He  had 
served  in  the  British  army,  and  under  Prince  Eugene,  was  present 
at  the  siege  of  Belgrade ;  his  most  marked  characteristic,  however, 
was  that  of  active  philanthropy,  and  as  founder  of  a  state,  he  holds  a 
distinguished  place  in  American  history  beside  William  Penn  and 
the  pilgrim  fathers. 

In  1728,  Oglethorpe  besought  the  interference  of  parliament  on 
behalf  of  the  sufferings  of  those  whose  only  crimes  were  misfortune 
and  poverty ;  nor  did  he  rest  until  "  from  extreme  misery  he  had 
restored  to  light  and  freedom  multitudes  who,  by  long  confinement 
for  debt,  were  strangers  and  helpless  in  the  land  of  their  birth."  His 


(1732.)  OGLETHORPE'S  BENEVOLENT  EXERTIONS.  391 

benevolence,  however,  did  not  confine  itself  alone  to  these ;  he  designed 
to  provide  an  asylum  also  for  persecuted  Protestants  of  all  nations, 
who  might,  in  the  New  "World,  freely  worship  God  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  conscience.  A  scheme  of  this  kind  could  not 
lack  advocates  in  England.  The  king,  George  II.,  favoured  the 
design ;  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign 
Parts  lent  it  aid ;  and  parliament  advanced  its  objects  by  a  grant  of 
£10,000.  On  the  9th  of  June,  therefore,  a  charter  was  granted 
to  Oglethorpe  and  others,  which  constituted  the  country  lying 
between  the  Savannah  and  Altamaha  and  westward  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  the  province  of  Georgia.  This  country  was  to  be  held  for 
twenty  years,  under  the  guardianship  of  a  corporation,  "  in  trust  for 
the  poor."  The  seal  of  the  corporation  bore  on  one  side  a  group  of 
silk- worms  at  their  labour  with  the  motto,  Non  sibi,  sed  aliis — not  for 
themselves,  but  for  others— thereby  expressive  of  the  disinterested 
intention  of  the  originators,  who  refused  to  receive  for  their  labours 
any  temporal  advantage  or  emolument  whatever.  The  reverse  side 
represented  the  genius  of  Georgia,  with  a  cap  of  liberty  on  her  head, 
a  spear  in  one  hand  and  a  horn  of  plenty  in  the  other.  The  reported 
wealth  and  beauty  of  this  land  of  promise  awoke  the  most  brilliant 
hopes  for  the  future.* 

Oglethorpe  sailed  from  England  in  November,  1732,  with  his  little 
band  of  liberated  captives  and  oppressed  Protestants,  amounting  in 
number  to  about  120  persons,  and  after  a  voyage  of  fifty-seven  days, 
reached  Charleston.  Immediately  after  his  arrival  in  the  New 
World,  he  proceeded  up  the  Savannah  river,  and  landed  on  a  high 
bluff,  called  Yamacraw,  which  he  at  once  selected  as  the  site  of  his 
capital,  the  Indians  being  induced  to  give  it  up  to  the  strangers 
through  the  agency  of  Mary  Musgrove,  an  Indian  woman,  who  had 
married  an  English  trader ;  and  there  Savannah  now  stands.  At 
the  distance  of  half  a  mile  dwelt  the  Yamacraws,  a  tribe  of  Creek 
Indians,  who,  with  their  chief,  Tomo-chichi,  at  their  head,  sought 
alliance  with  the  strangers.  "  Here  is  a  little  present,"  said  the  red 


*  This  sketch  of  the  settlement  of  Georgia  is  given  principally  from  my 
translation  of  Miss  Bremer's  "  Homes  of  the  New  World  "  and  is  derived 
frora  Bancroft. 


392  HISTORY   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

man,  stretching  out  before  him  a  buffalo-hide,  painted  on  the  inside 
with  an  eagle's  head  and  feathers ;  "  the  eagle's  feathers  are  soft, 
and  betoken  love  ;  the  buffalo's  hide  is  warm,  and  betokens  protection. 
Therefore,  love  and  protect  our  little  families." 

Oglethorpe  received  with  kindness  these  friendly  demonstrations. 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  February,  when  the  little  band  of  colonists 
pitched  their  tents  on  the  banks  of  the  river.  Oglethorpe's  tent 
stood  beneath  four  tall  pine-trees,  and  for  twelve  months  he  had  no 
other  shelter.  In  this  beautiful  region  was  the  town  of  Savannah 
laid  out,  according  as  it  stands  at  the  present  day,  with  its  regular 
streets  and  large  squares  in  each  quarter  of  the  town,  whilst  through 
the  primeval  woods  a  road  was  formed  to  the  ground  which  was  to 
become  a  great  garden,  intended  as  a  nursery-ground  for  European 
fruits  and  the  wonderful  natural  products  of  America. 

Such  was  the  commencement  of  the  commonwealth  of  Georgia. 
The  province  became  already,  in  its  infancy,  an  asylum  for  the 
oppressed  and  suffering,  not  only  among  the  people  of  Great  Britain, 
but  in  Europe  itself.  The  fame  of  this  asylum  in  the  wilderness  rang 
through  Europe.  The  Moravian  brethren,  persecuted  in  their  native 
land,  received  an  invitation  from  England  of  a  free  passage  to 
Georgia  for  them  and  for  their  children,  provisions  for  a  whole  season, 
a  grant  of  land  to  be  held  free  for  ten  years,  with  all  the  privileges 
and  rites  of  native  English  citizens,  and  the  freedom  to  worship  God 
in  their  own  way.  This  invitation  they  joyfully  accepted. 

On  the  last  day  of  October,  1733,  with  their  Bibles  and  hymn- 
books,  with  two  covered  wagons,  in  which  were  conveyed  their  aged 
and  their  little  children,  and  another  wagon  containing  their  worldly 
goods,  the  little  evangelical  band  set  forth  in  the  name  of  God,  after 
prayers  and  benedictions,  on  their  long  pilgrimage.  They  sailed  up 
the  stately  Rhine,  between  its  vineyards  and  ruined  castles,  and 
thence  forth  upon  the  great  sea  in  the  depth  of  winter.  When  they 
lost  sight  of  land,  and  the  majesty  of  ocean  was  revealed  to  them, 
they  burst  forth  into  a  hymn  of  praise.  When  the  sea  was  calm  and 
the  sun  rose  in  his  splendour,  they  sang,  "  How  beautiful  is  creation ! 
how  glorious  the  Creator!"  "When  the  wind  was  adverse,  they 
put  up  prayers  ;  when  it  changed,  thanksgivings.  When  they  sailed 
smoothly  with  a  favouring  gale,  they  made  holy  covenants,  like  Jacob 


(1733.)     AERIVAL  OF  THE  MORAVIANS  AT  CHARLESTON.        393 

of  old ;  when  the  storm  raged  violently,  they  lifted  up  their  voices 
and  sang  amid  the  storm,  for  to  love  the  Lord  Jesus  gave  great 
consolation." 

Thus  they  arrived  at  the  shore  of  the  New  World.  Oglethorpe 
met  them  at  Charleston  and  bade  them  welcome ;  and  five  days  after- 
wards they  pitched  their  tents  near  Savannah.  Their  place  of 
residence  was  to  be  yet  further  up  the  country.  Oglethorpe  pro- 
vided them  with  horses,  and  accompanied  them  through  the  wilder- 
ness. By  the  aid  of  Indian  guides  and  blazed  trees,  they  proceeded 
onward,  till  they  found  a  suitable  spot  for  their  settlement.  It  was 
on  the  banks  of  a  little  stream,  and  both  were  called  by  them 
Ebenezer.  Here  they  resolved  to  build  their  dwellings,  and  to  erect 
a  column  in  token  of  the  providence  of  God,  which  had  brought  them 
safely  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 

The  same  year  was  the  town  of  Augusta  founded,  which  soon 
became  a  favourite  resort  of  the  Indian  trader.  The  fame  of  Oglethorpe 
extended  through  the  wilderness,  and  in  May  came  the  chiefs  of  the 
eight  tribes  of  the  Musgogees,  to  make  an  alliance  with  him.  Long- 
king,  the  tall  old  civil  chief  of  the  Ocanos,  was  their  spokesman. 

"  The  Great  Spirit,  which  dwells  everywhere  around  us,"  said  he, 
"and  which  gave  breath  to  all  men,  has  sent  the  Englishmen  to 
instruct  us ! "  He  then  bade  them  welcome  to  the  country  south 
of  the  Savannah,  as  well  as  to  the  cultivation  of  such  lands  as  his 
people  had  not  used ;  and,  in  token  of  the  sincerity  of  his  words, 
he  laid  eight  bundles  of  buckskins  at  the  feet  of  Oglethorpe.  The 
chief  of  the  Coweta  tribe  arose  and  said :  "  We  are  come  five-and- 
twenty  days'  journey  to  see  you.  I  have  never  desired  to  go  down 
to  Charleston,  but  when  I  heard  that  you  were  come,  and  that  you 
were  good  men,  I  came  down  to  you  that  I  might  hear  good  things." 

A  Cherokee  appeared  among  the  English.  "  Fear  nothing,"  said 
Oglethorpe,  "  but  speak  freely."  "  I  always  speak  freely,"  replied 
the  mountain-chief ;  "  wherefore  should  I  be  afraid  ?  I  feared  not 
when  I  was  among  enemies ;  I  am  now  among  friends."  And  the 
settlers  and  the  Cherokees  became  friends. 

A  Chocta  chief,  named  Red-shoes,  came  the  following  year,  and 
proposed  to  trade.  "  We  come  from  a  great  distance,"  said  he,  "  and 
we  are  a  great  nation.  The  French  built  forts  amongst  us.  We  have 

17* 


394  HISTORY  OF  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

long  traded  with  them,  but  they  are  poor  in  goods ;  we  desire  that  a 
trade  may  be  opened  between  ourselves  and  you." 

The  good  faith  which  Oglethorpe  kept  in  his  transactions  with  the 
Indians,  his  noble  demeanour  and  bearing,  and  the  sweetness  of  his 
temper,  won  for  him  the  confidence  of  the  red  men.  He  was  pleased 
with  their  simple  manners  and  customs,  and  endeavoured  to  enlighten 
their  minds  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  knowledge  of  that  God  whom 
they  ignorantly  worshipped. 

The  laws  which  Oglethorpe  framed  for  Georgia,  forbade  the  intro- 
duction both  of  intoxicating  liquor  and  of  slavery.  "  Slavery,"  said 
he,  "  is  contraiy  to  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  to  the  fundamental  law 
of  England.  We  will  not  permit  a  law  which  allows  such  horrid 
crimes."  And  when  later,  various  of  "  the  better  class  of  people " 
endeavoured  to  introduce  negro  slaves,  Oglethorpe  resolutely  opposed 
it,  and  declared,  that  if  slaves  were  introduced  into  Georgia,  he  would 
no  longer  concern  himself  with  the  colony.  He  continued  steadfast, 
enforcing  his  determination  by  his  almost  arbitrary  power,  although 
many  of  the  planters,  in  the  belief  that  they  could  not  successfully 
cultivate  the  land  with  white  labourers,  threatened  to  leave  the 
colony. 

Oglethorpe  continued  to  labour  with  unabated  activity  for  the 
well-being  and  prosperity  of  the  province,  extending  and  securing  its 
boundaries,  establishing  towns,  and  regulating  the  commonwealth. 
He  visited  the  evangelical  brethren  at  Ebenezer,  laid  out  the  streets 
of  their  new  town,  and  praised  their  good  management.  Within  a 
few  years  the  product  of  raw  silk  within  this  little  settlement  had 
increased  to  ten  thousand  pounds  annually ;  besides  which,  indigo 
had  become  a  staple  article  of  traffic.  They  also  opposed  the  intro- 
duction of  negro  slaves  in  the  most  earnest  manner,  maintaining  that 
the  whites  could  labour  equally  well  under  the  sun  of  Georgia.  Their 
religion  united  them  with  each  other.  They  settled  their  own  dis- 
putes. Labour  was  with  them  worship,  and  worship  the  business  of 
their  lives.  They  had  peace  and  were  happy. 

From  the  Moravian  towns  Oglethorpe  journeyed  southward,  pass- 
ing through  narrow  inland  channels,  the  shores  of  which  were 
covered  with  woods  of  pine,  evergreen  oaks,  and  cedars,  which 
grew  down  to  the  water's  edge,  and  which  resounded  with  the 


(1734.)  JOHN  AND    CHARLES  WESLEY   IN   GEORGIA.  395 

melody  of  birds.  On  St.  Simon's  Island,  fire  having  cleared  the 
grass  from,  an  old  Indian  field,  the  streets  of  Frederica  were  laid 
out,  and,  amid  the  carolling  of  hundreds  of  birds,  a  fort  was  con- 
structed on  a  bluff  commanding  the  river. 

The  Highlands  of  Scotland  had  already  sent  a  company  of  bold 
mountaineers,  who  sought  for  a  home  under  Oglethorpe's  banner ; 
and  Oglethorpe,  attired  in  the  highland  costume,  now  sailed  up  the 
Altamaha,  to  visit  them  at  Darien,  near  the  mouth  of  that  river,  where 
they  had  located  themselves. 

In  1734,  Oglethorpe,  after  about  fifteen  months'  residence  in  his 
colony,  made  a  voyage  to  England,  taking  with  him  Tomo-chichi  and 
others  of  the  Creeks,  to  do  homage  at  the  English  court,  and  to  con- 
firm his  report  of  the  friendly  relationship  with  the  Indians.    In  1736 
he  returned,  bringing  with  him  300  emigrants,  whom  he  cared  for 
like  a  father.     Reaching  the  shore,  he  ascended  with  his  companions 
a  rising  ground,  not  far  from  Tybee  Island,  where  they  all  fell  on 
their  knees,  and  returned  thanks  to  God  for  having  safely  conducted 
them  to  Georgia.     Among  these  was  a  second  company  of  Moravians, 
men  who  had  "  a  faith  above  fear,"  and  who  in  the  simplicity  of  their 
lives  seemed  to  revive  the  primitive  Christian  communities  where 
rank  and  state  were  unknown.    With  this  company  came  also  John 
and  Charles  Wesley,  Charles  the  secretary  to  Oglethorpe,  and  both 
burning  with  a  desire  to  become  apostles  of  Christ  among  the  Indians, 
and  to  live  in  the  New  World  a  life  wholly  and  entirely  consecrated 
to   God.     They  desired  to  make  Georgia  a  religious   colony.     The 
Wesleys,  however,  found  the  sting  as  well  as  the  trail  of  the  serpent 
in  this  religious  garden  of  Eden,  and  that  through  the  guile  of  two 
young  and  fair  women,  one  of  whom  early  compelled  Charles  to  retire 
to  England,  whither  he  was  sent  ostensibly  as  the  bearer  of  des- 
patches.   The  preaching  of  John  excited  the  utmost  religious  fervour,   ' 
and  balls  were  deserted  to  listen  to  his  ministry ;  but  "  a  snare,"  as 
he  relates,  "  was  laid  to  entrap  him,"  and  he  became  the  lover  of  a 
young  lady,  the  wooing  of  whom  brought  him  only  embarrassment 
and  vexation.     He  gave  her  up,  but  that  did  not  end  his  trouble  j 
she  married  another,  and  the  husband,  on  the  plea  of  her  religious 
character  being  attacked,  claimed  damages  at  law  to  the  amount  of 
£1,000.    The  jury  returned  a  verdict  in  favour  of  the  husband,  and 


396  HISTORY  OP  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"Wesley,  assisted  by  the  good  Moravians,  prepared  to  flee  to  England, 
Measures  were  taken  to  detain  him ;  hut  as  he  himself  records,  he 
"  saw  clearly  that  the  hour  was  come,  and  as  soon  as  evening  prayer 
was  over,  the  tide  serving,  he  shook  the  dust  off  his  feet,"  and  left 
Georgia  and  America  for  ever. 

As  Wesley  landed  in  England,  he  encountered  Whitfield  just  ahout 
to  embark  for  Georgia.  The  main  purport  of  his  visit  was  to 
establish  there  an  orphan-house,  similar  to  that  at  Halle.  The  design 
was  carried  out,  the  institution  was  founded  in  the  neighbourhood  01 
Savannah  ;  but  though  it  continued  to  exist  during  his  lifetimq,  it 
languished  and  finally  was  given  up  after  his  death.  The  permanent 
work  which  he  carried  out  was  somewhat  different.  In  order  to  col- 
lect funds  for  this  orphan-house,  he  commenced  a  tour  through  the 
colonies,  producing  wherever  he  went  the  most  extraordinary  effects. 
At  this  time  a  religious  reaction  was  taking  place  in  the  New  England 
states.  The  public  mind,  having  rushed  as  it  were  into  latitudina- 
rianism  from  the  asceticism  and  sternness  of  the  rigid  Puritan  creed 
and  life,  now  with  that  natural  and  necessary  reaction  which  follows 
every  extreme,  was  going  back  to  the  religious  enthusiasm,  of  a  former 
period.  The  preaching  of  Whitfield  was  a  spark  which  fell  upon 
this  inflammable  material.  Crowds  followed  him  everywhere  ;  he 
preached,  and  the  people,  with  cries  and  tears  and  violent  bodily 
contortions,  believed  that  the  Divine  grace  was  born  in  their  souls. 
A  "  great  revival "  took  place  throughout  New  England  ;  and  con- 
troversy, which  in  Connecticut  lasted  for  nine  years,  raged  between 
the  Old  and  New  Lights. 

"  During  these  religious  excitements,"  says  Hildreth,  "  the  Baptists 
of  New  England  received  a  new  impulse ;  the  sect  began  largely  to 
increase,  and  ere  long  many  of  the  New  Light  congregations  joined 
the  Baptist  church.  In  the  middle  and  southern  colonies,  the  Scotch 
and  Irish  Presbyterians,  who  were  being  continually  increased  by 
additional  numbers  from  the  mother-country,  kindled  into  zeal  by  the 
preaching  of  this  modern  apostle,  became  formidable  rivals  to  the 
Episcopal  church."  "  From  this  first  visit  of  Whitfield,"  continues 
the  same  author,  "  may  be  dated  that  organised  system  of  revivals 
and  religious  excitements  which  to  this  day  are  in  progress  of  deve- 
lopment, and  which  are  not  without  results  upon  the  moral  and 


(1741.)  FALSE   ALARM   OF   A    NEGRO   RISING.  39? 

intellectual  character  of  America."  Many  distinguished  schools  and 
colleges  owe  their  establishment  to  the  religious  fervor  of  that  period. 

"Whilst  this  excitement  was  going  on  in  the  New  England  colonies, 
New  York  was  the  scene  of  a  cruel  and  terrible  delusion,  which  almost 
vied  in  its  horrors  with  the  witch-trials  of  Salem.  New  York  at  this 
time,  1741,  contained  between  7,000  and  8,000  inhabitants,  1,200  or 
1,400  of  whom  were  blacks.  The  robbery  of  a  house,  and  the  occur- 
rence of  nine  fires  in  rapid  succession,  occasioned  a  kind  of  insane 
terror.  The  magistrates  having  offered  a  reward,  pardon  and  freedom 
to  any  slave  who  would  reveal  the  supposed  incendiaries,  two  women 
of  indifferent  character  gave  information  of  a  plot  among  the  negroes 
to  burn  the  city,  murder  the  whites,  and  make  one  of  their  own 
party  governor.  Incredible  as  the  story  was,  it  gained  belief,  and 
great  numbers  of  slaves  and  free-blacks  were  arrested.  "  The  eight 
lawyers  of  the  place  assisted  by  turns  on  behalf  of  the  prosecutors ; 
the  prisoners,  who  had  no  counsel,  were  tried  and  convicted  on  insuf- 
ficient evidence ;  the  lawyers  vied  with  each  other  in  heaping  abuse 
upon  the  unfortunate  prisoners,  and  the  chief-justice  in  passing  sen- 
tence vied  with  the  lawyers."  *  Many  confessed  to  save  their  lives, 
and  then  appeared  as  witnesses  against  others.  Thirteen  were  burnt 
at  the  stake,  eighteen  were  hanged,  and  seventy-one  transported. 

When  the  general  terror  had  a  little  subsided,  and  the  public  mind, 
looking  more  coolly  at  the  whole  thing,  considered  the  base  character 
of  the  informers  and  witnesses,  the  reality  of  the  plot  was  doubted, 
and  the  shame  of  blood-guiltiness  rested  upon  the  city. 

The  same  year  that  Oglethorpe  returned  from  England,  he  fortified 
the  colony  in  anticipation  of  war  between  England  and  Spain.  For 
this  purpose  forts  were  erected  at  Augusta,  Darien,  Frederica,  Cum- 
berland Island,  near  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Mary's,  and  even  as  far 
south  as  St.  John's  river,  all  the  territory  north  of  that  river  being 
claimed  for  England.  This  latter  erection  led  to  complaints  from  the 
Spanish  authorities  at  St.  Augustine ;  hostilities  were  threatened ; 
the  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John's  was  therefore  abandoned,  and 
the  St.  Mary's  river  became  from  that  time  the  established  southern 
boundary  of  Georgia. 

*  Hildretb. 


398  HISTORY   OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Again,  in  1737,  Oglethorpe  hastened  to  England  to  make  there 
more  effectual  preparations  for  the  struggle,  and  returned  with  a 
commission  as  brigadier-general,  with  a  command  extending  over 
South  Carolina,  and  bringing  with  him  a  regiment  of  600  men.  Ho 
was  received  with  salutes  and  bonfires  at  Savannah  and  every  demon- 
stration of  joy. 

In  1739,  war  being  formally  declared,  Oglethorpe  planned  an  expe- 
dition against  St.  Augustine.  In  November  of  the  same  year  Admi- 
ral Vernon  took  Porto  Bello ;  and  the  following  May,  Oglethorpe 
entered  Florida  "  with  a  select  force  of  400  men  from  his  own  regi- 
ment, some  troops  from  Carolina,  and  a  large  body  of  friendly 
Indians."  A  Spanish  fort,  twenty-five  miles  from  St.  Augustine, 
surrendered  after  a  short  resistance ;  another  within  two  miles  was 
abandoned;  but  St.  Augustine,  when  required  to  surrender,  sent  a 
boM  defiance.  Ships  were  stationed  at  the  entrance  of  the  harbour 
to  prevent  supplies,  and  every  measure  was  taken  to  reduce  the  place. 
Oglethorpe,  enduring  all  the  fatigues  and  hardships  of  the  common 
soldiers,  in  spite  of  ill  health  consequent  on  exposure  to  perpetual 
damps,  was  always  at  the  head  of  every  important  action.  Great 
as  was  his  courage  and  endurance,  his  conduct  as  a  soldier  in  an 
enemy's  country  was  still  nobler ;  the  few  prisoners  whom  he  took, 
we  are  told,  were  treated  with  kindness ;  the  cruelties  of  the  savages 
were  reproved  and  restrained ;  not  a  field  nor  a  house  nor  a  garden 
near  St.  Augustine  was  injured,  unless  by  the  Indians. 

But  St.  Augustine  resisted;  Spanish  galleys  contrived  to  enter 
with  provisions ;  the  unsuccess  of  the  English  fleet  in  the  West  Indies 
prevented  any  assistance  from  that  quarter ;  and  sickness  at  length 
breaking  out  among  Oglethorpe's  forces,  he  was  compelled  in  July  to 
return  to  Georgia. 

Two  years  afterwards,  in  1742,  the  Spaniards  invaded  Georgia.  A 
fleet  of  thirty-six  sail  from  Havanna  and  St.  Augustine,  bearing 
upwards  of  3,000  troops,  entered  the  harbour  of  St.  Simon's,  an  island 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Altamaha,  landed  a  number  of  troops,  and  erected 
a  battery  of  twenty  guns.  Oglethorpe,  who  was  at  that  time  on  the 
island  with  less  than  800  men,  exclusive  of  Indians,  spiked  his  guns 
and  retreated  to  Frederica,  there  to  await  tl  e  promised  reinforcements 
from  Carolina.  From  this  place  he  wrote  to  Savannah — "  We  will 


(1742.)    OGLETHORPE'S  MANCEUVKES  AGAINST  THE  SPANIAKDS.      399 

not  suffer  defeat ;  we  will  rather  die  like  Leonidas  and  his  Spartans, 
if  we  can  but  protect  Carolina  and  the  rest  of  the  Americans  from 
desolation."  The  Spanish  general,  Monteano,  however,  unacquainted 
with  the  coast  and  the  proper  points  of  attack,  wasted  his  efforts  and 
was  defeated  in  repeated  skirmishes.  Oglethorpe,  still  disappointed 
of  aid  from  Carolina,  resolved,  however,  to  make  a  night  attack  on 
one  of  the  enemy's  camps ;  but  his  intentions  were  revealed  by  a 
French  soldier  who  deserted.  Apprehensive,  says  AVillson,  that  the 
enemy  would  now  discover  his  weakness,  he  devised  a  plan  to  destroy 
the  credit  of  any  information  he  might  give.  He  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  deserter,  desiring  him  to  urge  the  Spaniards  to  an  immediate 
attack,  or  to  induce  them  to  remain  in  St.  Simon's  island  yet  three 
days,  as  by  that  time  several  British  ships  would  have  arrived.  The 
letter,  as  Oglethorpe  intended,  was  carried  to  the  Spanish  commander. 
The  deserter  was  arrested  as  a  spy,  and  the-  utmost  perplexity  pre- 
vailed in  the  Spanish  camp.  At  that  moment,  fortunately  for  Ogle- 
thorpe, three  small  vessels  were  perceived  in  the  offing,  which  being 
supposed  to  be  a  part  of  the  expected  British  fleet,  an  attack  on 
Oglethorpe  at  Frederica  was  determined  upon.  tSwRCTOTt  I 

All  turned  out  as  Oglethorpe  wished  ;  one  party  of  the  advancing 
troops  were  defeated  by  himself  and  his  Highlanders  who  marched 
out  of  the  town  to  meet  them,  and  another  fell  into  an  ambuscade. 
The  scene  of  destruction  was  terrible ;  the  ground  was  covered  with 
dead,  and  the  place  to  this  day  bears  the  name  of  the  Bloody  Marsh. 
The  enemy  fled  with  precipitation  to  their  ships,  leaving  their  guns 
and  ammunition  behind,  and  in  a  few  days  were  sailing  to  the  south, 
making,  however,  on  their  way,  an  attack  on  Fort  William,  where 
again  they  were  repulsed  with  loss.  The  Spanish  commander  gained 
so  little  credit  by  this  expedition,  that  on  his  return  to  Havanna  he 
was  tried  by  court-martial  and  dismissed  the  service.  Oglethorpe,  a 
week  after  his  deliverance,  ordered  a  general  thanksgiving. 

Thus  was  Georgia  established  and  defended ;  yet  were  there  many 
discontented  and  many  disaffected  within  her  borders ;  and  scarcely 
was  the  war  at  an  end  and  peace  once  more  within  the  colony,  than 
Oglethorpe.  sailed  for  England  to  meet  and  rebut  various  slanderous 
charges  brought  against  him,  every  one  of  which  was  disproved. 
But  though  he  lived  till  upwards  of  ninety,  he  never  returned  to  the 


400  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITEP  STATES. 

colony ;  joining  soon  after  the  army  against  the  Pretender.  After 
Oglethorpe  left  Georgia,  changes  were  introduced  into  its  laws 
and  administration ;  the  prohibition  of  rum  was  removed  from  the 
statute-hook  ;  and  the  former  somewhat  military  rule  of  government 
was  changed,  the  administration  being  entrusted  to  a  president  and 
council,  who  were  required  to  govern  according  to  the  instruction  of 
the  trustees. 

In  one  respect  Georgia  fell  short  of  the  liberality  which  might  have 
been  expected  from  her  founder ;  she  was  closed  against  "  Papists," 
although,  as  regarded  the  Jews,  Oglethorpe  was  more  enlightened 
than  the  English  trustees  of  the  colony.  Among  the  earlier  settlers, 
a  company  of  Jews  coming  over,  the  trustees  wrote  somewhat  in 
perplexity,  that  "  they  had  no  intention  of  making  Georgia  a  Jews' 
colony,"  and  requested  Oglethorpe,  therefore,  "  to  give  these  Israelites 
no  encouragement."  If  he  did  not  encourage  them,  neither  did  he 
discourage  them,  for  they  settled  at  Savannah,  opened  a  synagogue, 
and  the  descendants  of  many  of  them  remain  to  this  day  among  the 
most  worthy  citizens  of  the  place. 

With  all  his  noble  virtues,  Oglethorpe  belonged  more  to  the  old 
institutions  than  to  the  new ;  and  hence  somewhat  of  feudal  usages 
had  been  introduced,  which  led  to  long-continued  discontent.  Another 
cause  of  discontent  was  the  prohibition  of  slave-labour.  Gradually, 
therefore,  this  was  relaxed;  slavers  from  Africa  visited  Savannah,  and 
the  laws  against  them  were  not  enforced;  in  vain  the  Moravians 
opposed  slavery  as  contrary  to  the  Gospel ;  their  religious  teachers  in 
Germany,  as  well  as  Whitfield,  the  great  apostle  of  the  colonies^ 
"  trusted  that  God  would  overrule  slavery  to  the  Christianising  of  the 
slave,"  and  the  Moravians  after  long  opposition  yielded.  Slaves  were 
at  first  hired  from  Carolina  for  a  short  period,  or  during  life,  and  a 
sum  equal  to  the  value  of  the  slave  paid  in  advance.  Thus  by  degrees 
Georgia  became  a  planting  sfate,  with  slave-labour  like  Carolina.* 

In  1752,  the  trustees  wearied  with  the  many  complaints  which  still 
continued  against  even  their  amended  form  of  government,  resigned 
their  charter  to  the  king,  and  Georgia  became  a  royal  government. 
The  liberties  and  privileges  enjoyed  by  Carolina  were  now  conferred 

*  Willson. 


(1742.)  THE    BOUNDARY   OP  MAINE — THE    SLAVE-TRADE.  401 

on  Georgia ;  but  the  colony  did  not  assume  a  really  flourishing  con- 
dition until  the  close  of  the  French  and  Indian  war,  when  Florida 
was  surrendered  to  England,  and  security  was  thus  insured  to  her 
frontiers. 

In  1737,  the  eastern  boundary  of  Maine  was  settled;  so  also  was 
the  southern  boundary  of  New  Hampshire,  though  somewhat  to  the 
disadvantage  of  Massachusetts,  who  not  being  greatly  in  favour  with 
the  English  parliament  in  consequence  of  her  pertinacity  with  regard 
to  the  salaries  of  Burnett  and  Belcher,  had  but  little  countenance  to 
expect  from  that  quarter.  Nor  was  another  boundary  dispute  settled 
more  to  her  satisfaction  in  1741,  when  the  country  conquered  in  the 
old  times  from  Philip  and  the  Wampanoags,  and  claimed  by  Massa- 
chusetts under  the  Plymouth  grant,  was  ceded  to  Rhode  Island  after 
having  been  a  subject  of  contention  between  the  two  states  for  about 
100  years. 

"We  have  already  related  that  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  conferred  upon 
a  company  of  English  merchants  the  monopoly  of  supplying  slaves  to 
the  Spanish  colonies.  Whilst  this  was  the  case  on  one  hand,  the 
African  company  of  independent  traders,  on  the  other,  were  conveying 
over  thousands  of  negro  slaves  to  the  British  colonies.  England,  says 
Bancroft,  valued  Africa  as  returning  for  her  manufactures  abundant 
labourers  for  her  colonies.  The  African  coast  for  thirty  degrees  in 
extent  was  traversed  for  the  supply  of  the  human  cargo ;  Africans 
above  thirty  and  under  fourteen  were  rejected,  and  very  few  women 
in  proportion  were  taken ;  the  English  slave-ships  were  laden  with 
the  youth  of  Africa.  Of  the  horrors  of  the  middle  passage  we  will 
not  speak ;  suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  loss  of  life  on  the  voyage  is  com- 
puted to  have  been,  on  an  average,  fifteen  per  cent. 

The  number  of  slaves  in  the  northern  provinces  was  small  in 
proportion  to  the  whites ;  but  in  the  lowlands  of  South  Carolina  and 
Virginia  they  constituted  the  great  majority.  It  is  not  easy  to 
calculate  the  number  imported  into  the  colonies.  In  the  northern 
and  middle  states  the  negro  slaves  were  employed  as  domestic  ser- 
vants and  agricultural  labourers.  In  New  York  they  amounted  to 
one-sixth  of  the  population,  and  the  slave  code  of  that  province  was 
as  severe  as  those  of  South  Carolina  and  Virginia.  In  Georgia,  as  we 
have  said,  slavery  obtained  powerful  advocates  in  Whitfield  and  hia 


402  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

associate  Habersham,  who,  however,  soon  turned  trader.  It  was  on 
the  plea  of  Christianising  the  heathen  that  they  founded  their  argu- 
ment, and  the  heart  of  the  poor  slaves  even  in  those  early  days  seems 
to  have  been  a  ready  recipient  of  the  consolations  of  religion.  There 
were  Uncle  Toms  even  then ;  for  Habersham  says  exultingly,  "  Many 
of  the  poor  slaves  of  America  have  already  been  made  freemen  of  the 
heavenly  Jerusalem."  One  circumstance  must,  however,  be  observed ; 
slavery  was  only  permitted  in  Georgia  on  Whitfield's  argument,  and 
the  masters  were  compelled,  by  fine,  to  oblige  their  slaves  "  to  attend 
at  some  time  in  the  Lord's-day  for  religious  instruction."  And  hence, 
says  Hildreth,  may  doubtless  be  ascribed  the  peculiarly  religious 
character  of  the  negroes  in  and  about  Savannah.  Nor  has  the  old 
humane  spirit  of  Georgia  ceased  to  exist.  Miss  Bremer,  speaking  of 
this  state,  says :  "I  augur  most  favourably  from  the  freer  and  happier 
life  of  the  negroes  of  Savannah ;  from  the  permission  which  is  given 
them  to  have  their  own  churches,  and  where  they  themselves  preach. 
Besides  this,  much  is  done  in  Georgia  for  the  instruction  of  the  negro 
slaves  in  Christianity,  for  their  emancipation  and  their  colonisation 
at  Liberia." 

Christianity,  however,  could  not  enfranchise  the  slave ;  he  might 
become  a  freeman  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  but  a  human  thrall  he 
remained  in  the  earthly  America,  spite  of  all  that  early  philanthro- 
pists, "enthusiasts,"  and  abolitionists  could  say  and  do;  and  as 
regarded  the  slave-trade,  the  colonies  had  no  power.  England  alone 
must  bear  the  burden  of  this  shame  and  guilt.  The  English  slave-- 
trade received  its  greatest  impetus  from  the  Assiento  treaty.  From 
1680  to  1700,  about  300,000  negroes  were  shipped  from  the  coast  of 
Africa ;  from  1700  to  1750,  about  2,000,000.  The  English  manufac- 
turers advocated  and  supported  the  trade,  because  it  opened  to  them 
the  African  market.  In  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  parliament 
legislated  for  the  better  supply  of  negroes  to  the  plantations ;  "  and 
again  it  declared  its  opinion  in  1695,  that  the  slave-trade  is  highly  bene- 
ficial and  advantageous  to  the  kingdom  and  her  colonies."  Queen  Anne 
was  so  decided  a  patron  of  the  slave-trade,  that  she  herself,  as  we  have 
said,  became  a  slave-trader,  and  boasted  to  her  parliament  that  she 
had  secured  to  Englishmen  a  new  market  for  slaves  in  Spanish 
America.  George  II.  favoured  it;  and  lastly,  in  1749,  in  order  to 


(1744.)  ENGLAND'S  ATTITUDE  WITH  REGARD  TO  THE  SLAVE-TRADE.  403 

give  the  utmost  activity  to  the  trade,  all  monopoly  was  removed,  and 
free-trade  in  slaves  laid  open  to  English  competition;  "the  slave- 
trade  being,"  according  to  the  words  of  the  statute,  "very  advanta- 
geous to  Great  Britain."  To  the  credit  of  Horace  Walpole,  he  saw 
the  iniquity  of  this  traffic,  while  parliament  was  throwing  it  open  to 
the  rejoicing  manufacturers  and  merchants ;  and,  according  to  his 
account,  the  English  trader  at  that  time  conveyed  46,000  slaves  every 
year  to  the  British  American  colonies  alone.  So  determined  was 
England  to  thrust  this  trade  upon  the  colonies,  that  when  any  of 
them  endeavoured  to  check  the  importation,  they  were  severely 
reproved.  The  reason  of  this  was  obvious.  The  colonies  were 
already  becoming  too  independent.  "The  African  slave-trade,"  it 
was  asserted  by  a  British  merchant  in  1745,  "was  the  great  pillar 
and  support  of  the  British  plantation  trade  in  America."  "If," 
argued  he,  "  it  were  possible  for  white  men  to  answer  the  end  of 
negroes  in  planting,  our  colonies  would  interfere  with  the  manufac- 
tures of  these  kingdoms.  In  such  case,  indeed,  we  might  have  reason 
to  dread  the  prosperity  of  our  colonies  ;  but  while  we  can  supply  them 
abundantly  with  negroes,  we  need  be  under  no  such  apprehension." 
And  again  :  "  Negro  labour  will  keep  our  British  colonies  in  a  due 
subserviency  to  the  interests  of  their  mother-country ;  for  while  our 
plantations  depend  only  on  planting  by  negoes,  our  colonies  can 
never  prove  injurious  to  British  manufacturers,  never  become  inde- 
pendent of  their  kingdom." 

So  reasoned  the  England  of  that  day,  in  the  spirit  of  an  arbitrary 
and  utterly  selfish  policy;  and  the  colonies  had  no  power  of  resis- 
tance. 

Before  concluding  this  portion  of  our  history,  which  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  early  dawn  of  that  day  which  saw  ascend,  through 
suffering  and  blood,  the  sun  of  American  independence,  a  few  remarks 
may  be  welcome  on  the  life  and  manners  of  the  colonies. 

America  could  already  boast  of  names  which  were  an  ornament  to 
the  age.  "America  may  look,"  says  Willson,  "upon  the  scientific 
discoveries  of  Franklin ;  upon  Godfrey's  invention  of  the  quadrant ; 
upon  the  researches  of  Bartrain,  a  Pennsylvanian  Quaker  and  farmer, 
-whom  Linnzeus  called  the  greatest  natural  botanist  in  the  world ;  upon 


404  HISTORY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. 

the  mathematical  and  astronomical  inventions  of  Rittenhouse,  and 
upon  the  metaphysical  and  theological  -writings  of  Jonathan  Edwards 
with  the  greater  pride,  when  it  is  considered  that  these  eminent  men 
owed  their  attainments  to  no  fostering  care  which  Britain  ever  showed 
for  the  cultivation  of  science  and  literature  in  her  colonies ;  that  these 
men  were  their  own  instructors,  and  that  their  celebrity  is  wholly  of 
American  origin." 

As  regards  the  spirit  of  bigotry  and  intolerance  which  we  have  had 
such  frequent  occasion  to  deplore  in  the  history  of  New  England,  a 
great  change  had  now  taken  place.  Although  much  puritanical  strict- 
ness and  formality  still  pervaded  New  England  manners,  yet  religious 
zeal  had  become  so  tempered  with  charity,  that  explosions  of  frenzy 
and  folly  like  those  of  the  early  Quakers  were  no  longer  treated  as 
offences  against  religion,  but  as  violations  of  public  decency  and  order, 
justice  being  tempered  with  prudence  and  mercy,  and  with  a  noble 
justice,  also,  we  may  add  ;  for  during  the  administration  of  Governor 
Belcher,  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts  passed  laws  making  pecuniary 
compensation  to  the  descendants  of  those  Quakers  who  had  suffered 
capital  punishment  in  the  years  1658  and  1659,  and  also  to  the  descen- 
dants of  such  as  had  been  the  victims  of  the  persecutions  for  witch- 
craft in  1693.  In  1729,  the  legislature  of  Connecticut  exempted 
Quakers  and  Baptists  from  ecclesiastical  taxes ;  and  two  years 
later  a  similar  law  was  enacted  by  the  Assembly  of  Massachu- 
setts. 

Notwithstanding  the  exceeding  strictness  of  the  puritanic  laws  of 
New  England,  we  are  told  by  numerous  writers  that  the  manners  of 
the  people  were  distinguished  by  innocent  hilarity  and  true  politeness. 
Lord  Baltimore,  it  is  said,  was  agreeably  surprised  by  the  graceful 
and  courteous  behaviour  of  the  gentlemen  and  clergy  of  Connecticut, 
and  confessed  that  he  found  the  aspect  and  address  which  he  thought 
peculiar  to  nobility  in  a  land  where  aristocratic  distinction  was 
unknown.  "  The  inhabitants  of  Massachusetts,"  says  a  writer  of  the 
time,  **  were  distinguished  in  a  high  degree  by  their  cheerful  vivacity, 
their  hospitality,  and  a  courtesy  the  more  estimable  that  it  was  indi- 
cative of  true  benevolence."  "  Men  devoted  to  the  service  of  God," 
says  another  author,  "  like  the  first  generation  of  the  inhabitants  of 


(1744.)  HOSPITALITY   OP   THE   VIRGINIANS.  405 

New  England,  carried  throughout  their  lives  an  elevated  strain  of 
sentiment  and  purpose  which  must  have  communicated  some  of  its 
grace  and  dignity  to  their  manners." 

Of  the  state  of  manners  and  morals  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  the 
southern  colonies,  so  gratifying  an  account  cannot  be  given.  While 
the  upper  classes  of  the  southern  people  were  distinguished  for  a 
luxurious  and  expensive  hospitality,  they  were  too  generally  addicted 
to  card-playing,  gambling,  and  intemperance,  while  hunting  and  cock- 
fighting  were  favourite  amusements  of  all  classes.  The  hospitality  of 
Virginia  was,  however,  a  beautiful  feature  of  its  life.  "  The  early 
Virginian  colonists,"  says  the  author  whom  we  have  quoted  above, 
"'  remote  from  crowded  haunts,  unoccupied  by  a  variety  of  objects  and 
purposes,  and  sequestered  from  the  intelligence  of  passing  events, 
found  the  company  of  strangers  peculiarly  agreeable.  All  the  other 
circumstances  of  his  lot  contributed  to  the  promotion  of  hospitality." 

The  celebrated  Jefferson  related  that,  in  his  father's  time,  it  was  no 
uncommon  thing  for  gentlemen  to  post  their  servants  on  the  main 
road,  for  the  purpose  of  amicably  waylaying  and  bringing  to  their 
houses  any  travellers  who  might  chance  to  pass.  Similar  bounty  is 
said  to  have  prevailed  among  the  Quakers  of  Pennsylvania,  "  where 
unlimited  hospitality  formed  a  part  of  their  regular  economy." 

"  But  whatever  diversities  of  manners,  morals,  and  general  condi- 
tion," says  Willson,  "  might  have  been  found  in  the  several  colonies 
in  the  early  period  of  their  history,  yet  a  gradual  assimilation  of 
character,  and  a  gradual  advance  in  wealth,  population,  and  the  means 
of  happiness,  were  observable  among  all  as  we  approach  the  period 
of  the  Revolution.  It  cannot  be  denied,  however,  that  New  England 
colonial  character  and  New  England  colonial  history  furnish  on  the 
whole  the  most  agreeable  reminiscences.  As  we  approach  this  period, 
we  behold  a  country  of  moderate  fertility,  occupied  by  an  industrious, 
hardy,  cheerful,  virtuous,  and  intelligent  population ;  a  country 
where  moderate  labour  earned  a  liberal  reward ;  where  prosperity  was 
connected  with  freedom  ;  where  a  general  simplicity  of  manners  and 
equality  of  condition  prevailed,  and  where  the  future  invited  with  pro- 
mises of  an  enlarging  expanse  of  human  happiness  and  virtue." 

Having  given  this  picture  of  life  and   manners  prevalent  in  the 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES. 

North  American  colonies  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution,  we  must 
of  necessity  return  to  the  course  of  our  history,  which  takes  us  back 
ahout  a  quarter  of  a  century.  At  this  time,  that  is  from  1720  to  1730, 
the  value  of  exports  from  the  mother-country  to  the  colonies  is 
stated  by  Hildreth  to  have  amounted  to  an  annual  average  of 
£471,299. 


END  OF  VOL.  I. 


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